Team Naruto
by Zidiane
Summary: We start at team assignments,but everyone's teams are all jumbled up! Naru, Hina, Saku, Kurenai and Anko form Team 8. Drama! Action! Humor! Romance! You'll find a balance of all those in my fic. More realistic fic. Please don't skim;read straight through
1. 01 Team Assignment

I used to own Naruto, but I lost the rights in a poker game… along with my clothes… I have gambling issues…

This story starts the night before team assignments, in the Hokage's office. I was inspired to write this by S'TarKan's Team 8. His (I will assume he's a guy) story is really good, but I am going in a different direction, and am praying that it works.

This fic is set in the "Z-verse". What's the Z-verse? It's a special universe that exists in my mind. Multiple versions of pre-existing characters live in this universe. Also, in this universe, there are many different worlds, each containing a different story. These stories, settings, and characters, while similar to their mainstream counterparts, are essentially different. For this fic I will be creating a new "Naruto world". So, if you feel that any character is not portrayed correctly (ooc), then I will refer you back to this note.

Z-verse changes/things you need to know(where I will be describing how this world differs from the mainstream):

Lee, Neji and Tenten are all in the same graduating year as everyone else for some reason I can't remember at the moment. Because of that, they will be just a little weaker than they were in the regular story. I am still going to leave Lee basically the same, without weights and the 8 gates thing, because I don't feel like having him suck.

Anko is a Jounin (as opposed to just being a special Jounin) because that just makes things easier.

The Kyuubi can heal Naruto better than in canon but dark red marks are left on the skin where the fox chakra touches, leaving the appearance of scars.

I added a Village council. they are more present in the beginning, but rarely are mentioned later. if this seriously bugs you, i am sorry. they kinda vanish after the first mission.

Sasuke is more sadistic than in canon. i personally think he should have been way more effed in the head after his brother killed his family, then forced him to watch it over and over for 72 hours straight at the age of... under 10, but some don't agree. this is for you.

Naruto was abused growing up. this is one of those stories. if it seriously offends you, to the point you know you will mention it in a negative way and then never talk to me again, don't start reading. it won't be serious, and i won't be shoving it in your face every other paragraph, but in this story it happened.

this story is pretty much my first real anything. I get much better later, as i improve myself, and you can start to see a difference by chapter "Renewed". I start to get really good until around chapter "Not Over", and i get awesome at chapter "Thrown Away"

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"Hokage-sama," a voice called after three knocks from behind his door, "the Jounin you summoned are here."

"Good, good, send them in" the seasoned Hokage called from his chair behind the desk, and begun lighting his pipe.

He watched as the five much younger Jounin entered his office.

Brittle looking hands brought the pipe up to their owner's mouth, and he took a puff, before turning his full attention to the gathered ninja in his office.

"As you all know, you are some of the sensei candidates for this terms Genin. Four three-man teams were made from Iruka's Genin," the elderly Hokage begun, then turned to Anko and finished, "so I am going to have to remove Mitarashi Anko from the sensei selection."

Anko's head dropped, and she nodded sadly.

"Only four from your group could get a team, and as you are the least experienced, you weren't able to make the cut this time," he said, taking another puff of his pipe, "but you will be first in line for the next team available."

"Understood, Hokage-sama." Anko spoke calmly from her spot on the right of the group, "So… does this mean I'm dismissed?"

"Well, I'm not kicking you out, if you wish to stay then you may, but you are free to go," the smoking Hokage told her.

"Thank you Hokage-sama, I'll take my leave then. Good night," Anko said, and then walked out of the room.

Anko was a little upset with not getting a team, but it was fine. Another team would come along in another six months; she just had to be a little patient. The main reason she was upset, though, was because she found a few Genin that she wanted.

She took a seat in the waiting room, and the assistant type person looked up to her. "I'm waiting for a friend," she told the woman, then returned to her thoughts.

She had told her good friend, Kurenai, that the Aburame kid, the Uzumaki kid, the Inuzuka kid, the Yamanaka girl, and the Hyuuga girl had caught her eye. She would have requested them from the Hokage, but now she could only hope Kurenai picked them and then she would help with their training.

She hadn't been surprised when she had heard that Uzumaki Naruto had failed, considering how most of the teachers hated him and probably fixed his tests, but she was a more than a little excited when she learned he taught himself a Jounin level jutsu and passed.

She had been gradually getting more hyped about getting her first team, and about the fact she would have gotten Uzumaki without a fight, considering he was hated for the Kyuubi, and his grades were horrible if anyone looked past that.

She was so excited, that she had forgotten to take into account that she only just gained Jounin rank four months ago.

There were also four more Jounin with more experience than she had, so it should have been obvious she wouldn't get a team this time, but she was too excited to even consider that.

She sighed deeply, than took out her favorite kunai, and begun playing with it. It wasn't really anything special, the kunai that is, but she liked the feeling of running her finger over the engravings, and the texture of the handle. It was just a little bit different from regular kunai, but it was enough to make it special.

* * *

"So," the white haired Hokage started once Anko left the room, "I called you here for team placement. You four are the best Jounin we have, so you get the privilege of requesting Genin. I will assume everyone checked the Genin for this year, and has decided on some that they would like to train. And, just in case you haven't heard, Uzumaki Naruto has passed this year."

"Pardon me, Hokage-sama," Asuma spoke up after his father's last comment, "I heard he learned a Jounin level technique, and passed. Is that right? How did he pull that one off?"

The Hokage smiled, and fiddled with his pipe for a second. "He broke into this tower, stole a forbidden scroll, and taught himself the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, then was able to create around 1000 clones and defeat a Chunin in a matter of seconds. He was tricked into stealing the scroll by a teacher, so he will not be punished for that, but the skills he showed that night more than proved he was ready."

"Wait, then how did he fail in the first place? One who could learn a Jounin skill, and in a few hours at that, it should have been obvious he was ready to move on" Guy inquired in a normal, indoor voice.

He was answered with the Hokage's, "Yes, and I am investigating that, but for now…" before he turned to Kurenai, "If you would start with your requests, please."

Kurenai took a step forward and said in a respectful tone of voice, "Yes, Hokage-sama. I would like to request Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto, and Haruno Sakura. I have watched them at the school, and I believe this team would be able to bring the best out of each other."

"Oh?" the smoking Hokage said in a serious tone, then leaned forward in his chair, "How so?"

"Well, as I have noticed," the crimson-eyed Jounin started, "Hinata has confidence issues, and she extremely timid. She likes Naruto, and gets more confident when he is around. I believe any training she undergoes will be mostly useless if she doesn't believe in herself, and Naruto is perfect for that job."

"And with Naruto," she continued, shifting her weight slightly to her right side, "He works hard to be acknowledged by people, and especially by Sakura. Any training he does will be more successful with her around. And as for Sakura, she isn't really particularly compatible with anyone anyway, so this is where she would do the most good. Sakura also seems to like Uchiha Sasuke, but when he is around, she neglects training, so if I don't get her, that's the last team she should be put on."

The Hokage nodded his head and looked towards the rest of the Jounin for his next question, "That sounded good, but are there any objections?"

To this, Asuma raised his hand and said, "Yeah, that sounds like it would work well, but I think she's only suggesting that because she like's smutty books with love triangles."

At this Kakashi started his perverted giggling, and Kurenai sent her hands in a flurry of seals. Asuma then fell to the floor crying, and entered the fetal position. She then glared at a still giggling Kakashi, and he suddenly became serious.

"…Uh…so I take it there are no objections, then?" the suddenly scared shitless Hokage asked aloud a little shakily. He then turned to Kurenai, "Could you, um, release him? He's sort of next."

She snorted, then put her hands together and released the genjutsu. She glared in the opposite direction as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Asuma, it's your turn," the Hokage said, starting to relax again, "Any requests?"

"Yeah, I do," Asuma began while lighting a cigarette he fished out of its box, pretending he wasn't just crying like a little girl. "Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji, they already work well together, and their abilities compliment each other well. Then Nagamaki Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, or Inuzuka Kiba will be helpful members."

"That sounds fine, and if there are no objections…" he said, and paused to see if there where any objections, there were none so he continued, "… then we will move on. Guy, you're next; anyone you would like?"

Guy did a sort of Michael Jackson spin, crotch grab included, that ended with his famous cool guy pose, using his right hand for the thumbs up and the left for the crotch hold, and spoke in an elevated tone of voice.

"Yes, Hokage-sama! Their flames of youth burn brightly! I request Rock Lee! They are all great, and I would prefer two more Taijutsu users, but I feel that Lee can only truly blossom with my taijutsu training!"

Hokage was still for a moment before he spoke up. "Okay, if Kakashi doesn't mind, then you can get Lee if you promise never to do that in my office, or within 30 feet of me ever again."

"Deal!" Guy shout-talked. He then turned to Kakashi, "So how about it? Are you willing to let me have Lee, my eternal rival?"

Kakashi looked up from his little orange book.

"Huh? Sorry, I wasn't listening. Is it my turn?" which caused Guy to go into one of his 'why are you so cool Kakashi?' episodes.

He was ignored, though, and they continued with Kakashi's request.

"Well, I don't really care who I get, Hokage-sama. Just give me whoever is left." This, of course, did nothing to calm down Guy's fit of 'why are you so cool Kakashi?'

"Well, then," the third Hokage started, taking in another breath of smoke while staring at the writhing Guy on his floor, "I guess that's it, then. You will get your teams tomorrow morning at 12 PM, so you are to get home and get some sleep. You are dismissed."

Everyone filed out of the office, and Anko jumped up and rushed to Kurenai as she came out.

"Who did you pick? Any that I'd like?" Anko whispered to Kurenai.

Kurenai smiled, and flicked her red eye's to Anko and said, "I might've grabbed one or two of your favorites, and I think you'll like them all together. You'll have to wait till tomorrow for the names, though."

"What? Are you serious? Come on, just tell me one of 'em! I gotta know, Ku-nee-chan!" Anko pestered as they exited the building.

"No," Kurenai said firmly, "now cut that out, Anko. You'll see them later with me, and I might even let you take them for dango. I'll even pay."

"Really? Okay, well, let's go home. I'm hungry; I skipped dinner 'cause I wanted to get here early!" Anko explained elatedly, then shushined towards their home.

Kurenai smiled, shook her head, and then shushined after the purple-haired blur.

* * *

It was the morning of team assignment; all of the academy graduates were gathering into their old classroom, when Ino and Sakura had just burst through the back door simultaneously, and shouted "First!"

"Ino-pig, what are you talking about! I was first, and you know it!" Sakura hollered unnecessarily loud, considering Ino was standing right next to her.

"HA!" Ino laughed, and then stepped in front of her, "You might've been first if your chest wasn't as flat as your forehead!"

Sakura blushed, then yelled, "Shut up, pig! Move your fat-ass, I'm gonna go sit next to Sasuke-kun!" and pushed past Ino.

She stopped mid stomp, and scanned the room. "Huh? Where's Sasuke-kun?" Sakura questioned, a puzzled look on her face, then took a seat towards the back of the middle isle.

"Yeah that's weird. He's normally one of the first here…" Ino commented.

Sakura smirked as Ino sat down next to her, "He probably left when he heard you coming. It seems to be a natural instinct for all men you're around, pig."

Ino's eyebrows and lips twitched a few times, before she retorted. "You can't talk when the only guy who wants to be around you is Naruto!"

Sakura didn't visibly get upset, she just flipped her hair over her shoulder and sighed, almost like a spoiled girl who had everything might, "What can I say? I'm irresistible to the poor guy…"

Ino was pissed that Sakura responded like that, but cooled off pretty quick. "Yeah, well, now you've lost your only fan, him not passing and all. Speaking of Naruto…" she said, and looked back towards Hinata.

Hinata was sitting on the top row of to the left of the room, along with Tenten who had her hand on her shoulder. She looked miserable, just sulking up there. She was radiating depressed vibes, and the other students were all sitting at least two seats away from the unusually gloomy Hyuuga.

"Huh?" the green-eyed kunoichi started, staring at Hinata, "What's Hinata have to do with Naruto?"

The blonde shook her head, "Nothing, she just looks miserable." She then sported a mischievous smirk, and added, "Naruto must be the same way now that he can't see his lover anymore."

"WHO'S HIS LO-" she yelled and slammed a fist on her desk, then looked to see a few people staring at her, and leaned forward and whispered aggressively, "Who's his lover!"

"Aww, don't say that," the purple clad kunoichi said mockingly, "you'll make him cry!" she finished, and pointed to where Naruto was showing his headband off to Kiba.

* * *

"Well, don't you just look delightfully cheerful!" a brown bun haired girl said as she approached the dejected Hyuuga.

"Hey Tenten…" she mumbled, sounding just as bad as she looked.

"Oh, come on, your still upset he didn't make it? You should be using your time to pray we get on the same team! Besides, you aren't going to help anyone by sulking like this; there wasn't anything you could've done about it anyway."

The lavender-haired Hyuuga sighed deeply, and mumbled, "… I tried, but…"

"Tried?" Tenten asked, taking the empty seat next to her, "Tried what?" and leaned a little closer to Hinata.

"Well…I tried to ask Otou-sama," she started, tugging at her sleeves a bit, "If he could help Naruto-kun pass. I told him about how he only failed because the teachers never helped him, and he said 'Good! They should not have ever allowed him in that school! That demon brat shouldn't even be allowed to live.' and then left."

Tenten frowned at that, placed her hand on Hinata's shaky shoulder, and started trying to comfort her.

"It's alright Hinata, I'm sure he didn't mean it. Well, I'm sure he didn't mean it literally, maybe he was just-" but was interrupted by someone yelling something across the room.

"Hey, Naruto, you idiot! This is only for graduates!" Kiba hollered to Naruto.

Tenten and Hinata had snapped their heads up at Kiba's comment, and were staring at Naruto. Neither was saying or thinking anything, just staring.

"Kiba, you're making yourself look stupid," Shikamaru commented, sounding bored and a little bit tired, "don't you see his hitai-ate? That means he passed."

At that, Naruto grinned wide, and adjusted the shining headband in the center of his forehead.

Lee had gotten out of his seat at this point, and ran towards Naruto immediately after Shikamaru's comment.

"Naruto-kun!" he started, grabbing both of Naruto's shoulders and shaking him slightly as he talked, "You are an inspiration for us all! If you can make it, even after they told you that you failed, than I can do the same! I will prove that I don't need ninjutsu or genjutsu to be a great ninja!"

Kiba frowned for a second then addressed Naruto again. "Hey, wait a minute… Naruto, how did you get that? You failed the final test, right? You didn't steal it, did you?"

Both Hinata and Naruto frowned at this comment, and Naruto defended himself. "NO! For your information, I learned a super-secret A-rank jutsu, and they had to pass me!"

Neji had spoken up after the laughter in the classroom had died down, as everyone in the room was listening. "They probably were tired of looking at his face, so they just gave him a hitai-ate."

Naruto was fuming at this point, as was Hinata in her own quiet way, and Naruto shouted out, "Shut up! I'll show you!" and jumped to the front of the class.

Naruto had put his fingers into a cross, and shouted, "KAGE BUNSH-" before he was hit over the head by Iruka.

"Naruto! No unauthorized jutsu in the class!" Iruka shouted at Naruto, "Now get back to your seat."

"But, they laughed when I told them about my jutsu, Iruka-sensei! I wanna show them what I can do!" Naruto shouted back.

Iruka smiled slightly and said, "You can show everyone after class, but it's against the rules in the classroom. Now take your seat."

"Fine!" grumbled Naruto, and he headed back to his seat.

"Okay," yelled Iruka, "everybody settle down, it's time for team placement. Team 1…"

Naruto had made it to his seat, listening for his name, but not paying attention. He brought his right hand up, and stared at it for a long while. There were several scars, of varying sizes, from multiple occasions.

He stared at the largest one, framed in the middle of his hand. He was particularly proud of this one, as he got it while helping a little girl when he was younger. He didn't get a thank you from anyone, and he didn't even see the girls face, but it felt really good to know that he helped save someone's life like that.

He started scanning his other hand, remembering where each scar had come from. Somewhere around a minute later, and he heard "Team 8! Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Hyuuga Hinata!"

Some clutter, and a crash was heard in the back of the room, as Hinata passed out, and fell out of her chair. "Uh, s-she's fine," Tenten started to lie when everyone looked their way, "she just, uh, slipped."

"Oh, well, moving on then," Iruka said with a smile, knowing full well she didn't just slip, "Team 9! Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji, and Uchiha Sasuke!"

Roars of disapproval went throughout the room from the girls, as none of them would tem with Sasuke or Neji. Ino and Sakura looked around for Sasuke, and found him in one of the middle rows.

"When did he get here?" they mused aloud in unison, as they had not realizing that he had walked in when they were bickering.

"And Team 10 will be Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, and Tenten."

Iruka had finished his list, and brought his clipboard down to his side underneath his arm. "You are allowed 30 minutes for a break, but make sure you get back on time; your senseis will be here then. You might also want to use this time to talk with your teammates, if you are unfamiliar with each other. Dismissed!"

Most of the kids left, completely ignoring Iruka and just going to hangout with friends. Ino and Sakura had left together, most likely mourning the fact that neither of them got Sasuke. Shikamaru and Choji left to get something to eat. Tenten was with Hinata, still trying to revive her. Everyone else important to the story had left to do things by themselves, excluding Kiba who was with Akamaru. Shino, too, if you count his bugs.

Naruto looked around for Hinata or Sakura, but they were nowhere to be seen, Sakura having left, and Hinata passed out under the table.

Naruto figured he would go look for Hinata, and see what kind of person she was. He hadn't really interacted with her before now, but he knew she was a little weird, and best friends with Tenten.

He didn't notice Tenten, due to her kneeling beneath the desk, so he decided to go look for Sakura or Hinata as teammates, or Tenten or Ino as his teammates best friends, as they might know where they are.

He left the room shortly before Hinata woke up. "O-oh, Tenten," Hinata said dizzily, "I just had the best dream. I got on a team with N-Naruto-kun!" blushing a little as she said his name, then stood up.

"It wasn't a dream, Hinata, but Naruto left already. Come on, let's go find him."

"W-What? I-it wasn't a d-dream?" Hinata said, in the middle of being dragged to the door.

Tenten sighed, "I am always amazed at how quickly your stammer returns when it's not just me and you, or you start thinking about him."

"W-well… uh… w-what about your teammates?" Hinata asked innocently, trying to avoid finding Naruto like this, "Shouldn't you go see them too?"

"Nice try, Hinata, but no," Tenten laughed as they exited the room, "you're going to see him, and I'm going with you. That's all there is to it."

* * *

They had been searching for Naruto for about 15 minutes, when they found him on the side of a building sneaking up on Sasuke.

"Hey, Tenten," Hinata called, tugging on her friends arm, "there he is, down there."

"What's he doing?" Tenten asked, approaching the side of the roof. She was answered when Naruto lunged at Sasuke, effectively ruining his quiet lunch.

"Gahh! Is he stupid?" Tenten blurted out, "He isn't good enough to take on Sasuke, he'll end up getting hurt!"

There was some clattering and rumbling coming from the small room for a several seconds, before it got quiet and Sasuke leapt from the window.

"Oh, man… well, at least he left quickly. Naruto can't be hurt to bad," Tenten stated, and then put a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Come on, let's go make sure Naruto is alright."

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata mumbled before jumping down with Tenten into the room.

"What the… Sasuke?" Tenten asked in confusion, staring at the tied up Sasuke, "Didn't you just… wait… then that means… Naruto won…? Why'd he leave henged as Sasuke?" Tenten asked herself aloud. Sasuke was glaring at her, and Hinata was smirking at him.

"Tenten, lets go see what Naruto-kun's up to. The "Uchiha genius" can probably get out on his own, don't you think?" Hinata said, smirked a little wider, and jumped out the window.

Tenten turned to Sasuke and chuckled, "Don't take to long, or you'll miss your sensei!" then followed Hinata out the window.

Tenten caught up to Hinata quickly. "That was pretty rotten, Hinata. Anyway, do you see Naruto?"

"Yes, he's about 100 feet this way, and he's still henged as Sasuke." Hinata stated, with her byakugan activated.

"What do you think he's doing looking like Sasuke?" Tenten asked, jumping from roof to roof with Hinata.

"I don't know, but I guess we'll see soon enough." Hinata said speeding up a little.

They followed Naruto for a few minutes, before he came to a stop at a park on the edges of school grounds.

"He's stopped," Hinata said quietly, as if he might be able to hear her, "I think he's going to talk to Sakura. I can tell you what happens, or we can move closer so you can see them to."

"Let's move closer, I want to see, but still tell me what they say! I can't read lips, so fill me in!" Tenten told her best friend.

They jumped to a tree close enough to see, but still far enough away to avoid detection. They watched as Naruto in disguise walked up to Sakura, and started talking to her.

"What're they saying, Hinata?" Tenten asked to her lavender haired companion.

"U-Umm… he is a-asking her how she f-feels about him. Him, N-Naruto-kun, not Sasuke…" Hinata said a little shakily.

"…What did she say?" Tenten asked after a moment.

"S-She said she wished they weren't on the same team and that he is an annoying n-nuisance…" Hinata replied, and her heart sank. "Oh, Naruto-kun…"

"Ugh, that bitch… what are they saying now?" Tenten asked Hinata.

"N-Naruto-kun asked her why she feels like that, and she said it's because he gets in the way of her feelings for Sasuke." Hinata said, her eyes glued to the two of them on the bench. It was sort of a useless action, as she could have closed her eyes and be facing the other way, and still have been able to see perfectly.

"O-Oh…" Tenten fumbled out as she watched Sakura kiss Naruto, followed by Naruto running away holding his stomach. "They… just kissed…"

"No," Hinata said sounding extremely relieved, "t-they almost, but their l-lips didn't touch."

"Phew! That was close. So, you want to talk to Sakura, or do we keep following Naruto?" Tenten asked curiously.

"N-No, let's just go back to the academy and have lunch. Our thirty minutes are almost up, and there isn't anything else to see here…" Hinata said quietly.

"Alright, but let me know if she keeps badmouthing Naruto like this!" Tenten says, pumping her fist, "I'll rough her up a little, let her know who's boss! Also tell me if you're gonna fight her, I want to watch."

"Okay, but I don't think it will get like that. She just needs to see Naruto-kun for who he is, and she'll start treating him right. Come on, let's get back to the academy." Hinata said shutting off her byakugan and leaping towards the school.

Tenten took a fleeting look at Sakura and muttered, "She'd better…" and then begun following Hinata.

* * *

"Team 8!" a red-eyed Jounin called as she stepped in the classroom. She watched as Naruto, Hinata, and Sakura got up and made their way to the door.

There were still three Genin left, Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino, and Kiba Inuzuka. No doubt who their sensei was, and no doubt they would be there for at least another 40 minutes.

She was a little late herself, but only by a few minutes. She had to fight with Anko to stay out of the way until the Genin got used to her. Being near Anko was tiring, and she would most likely do something strange that would freak them out.

Yes, they had to get somewhat comfortable with her before they met Anko. Mentally scarring them to soon would be bad for their training, and it would take too long to gain their trust.

They exited the building, and headed to an area around the academy with many trees. It was an area like in movies and animes, with the little bit of light shining through the trees making everything look nice.

Kurenai turned around and examined them each for a moment. "Okay," she said, and gestured for them to sit on the grass, and they did, "before anything, we will start with introductions. Just state your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, that kind of thing. So who wants to start?"

She waited for a moment, but none of them said anything. "Okay," she sighed, "I'll start. My name is Yuuhi Kurenai. I enjoy reading… uh… 'romance' novels. I dislike men who look down on kunoichi just because they are women. My hobbies are gardening and making new genjutsu. Also, something you should know, is that you will have another Jounin helping you guys train. Don't ask about her, you'll meet her later. Now, who's next?"

Sakura sighed, and said. "I'll go next." She straightened up, and cleared her throat, then said, "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like Sasuke-kun. My hobbies are… well, anything to do with Sasuke-kun. My dreams for the future…" she blushed at this, and said, "to become Sasuke-kun's wife, and help him revive his clan." Then her face looked agrivated, and she said, "And I hate Naruto!"

Naruto got all depressed looking, holding his knees to his chest, and was pushing around some dirt with a stick, so Kurenai decided to skip him. "Uh, how about you?" she said gesturing to Hinata, "will you go next?"

"U-um…" Hinata started, twiddling her index fingers together and shifting nervously, "m-my name is Hyuuga Hinata. I-I like spending time w-with my friend, Tenten. U-um, I don't r-really have anything I d-dislike. M-my hobbies… r-reading, I guess. And m-my dream for the future… t-trying to b-be more like the p-person I a-admire most… " Hinata managed to finish, blushing furiously and looking in the opposite direction of Naruto.

Kurenai smiled slightly, and thought 'aww, how cute.' then looked to Naruto. He was done with his dirt drawings, so she gestured at him with her hand.

"Okay! Well, I like miso ramen! Especially at Ichiraku's. I also like when Iruka-sensei treats me to ramen. I hate waiting the tree minutes for instant ramen to heat up. And my dream is…" and Naruto started grinning.

Kurenai mentally sighed, and thought 'ramen chef, or to eat the worlds best ramen?', but didn't say anything.

"…my dream is to become Hokage so that everyone in the village will finally start to respect and acknowledge me!" Naruto finished with his grin still in place.

Hinata blushed slightly, and thought 'N-Naruto-kun…'. She had known of his dream for a long time, but hearing him say it caused the heat to rise in her cheeks.

Sakura stared at him with a slightly inspired look on her face, and Kurenai's eyebrows rose slightly at the unexpected answer.

"Oh," he added, having almost forgot to say his hobbies, "and my hobbies are pulling pranks." The three girls got as close to face faulting as possible without actually face faulting.

Kurenai brought her hand up in front of her face after righting herself, "I-I see… well, that's all for the introductions. Do you all know where training ground 12 is?"

They nodded, so she continued. "We will meet there tomorrow at 7 AM for a survival test. This one will be different from your academy tests, as you will be trying to survive against me. You are free for the day, so make sure you rest up tonight. Dismissed!" she said and shushined away, leaving only a swirl of leaves in her wake.

"So Naruto," Sakura started shortly after Kurenai left, "how did you get your hitai-ite? You failed the exam, right?"

"I learned a super special jutsu, and so they passed me!" Naruto said, grining brightly.

"No, seriously, how did you pass." Sakura said, sounding her usual aggravated self.

Hinata frowned at these words. It was difficult to believe Naruto had done something like that, but the fact that he passed and insisted it was true had made her believe him. Naruto was not one to lie about anything, especially about himself. Maybe to protect someone else, even if they would never know or appreciate it, but that was it.

Naruto looked dejected and said. "S-Sakura-chan, you don't believe me?" then his face turned bright and cheerful. "Fine then, I'll show you!" Naruto shouted proudly, and put his hands into a cross seal.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" he shouted, and filled an area about 10 feet wide with smoke. The smoke cleared and 20 Narutos stood there, watching for Sakura's reaction.

"So you can make 20 clones," Sakura said, raising her hands, palm up, to the sides of her shaking head, "That might pass you, but you made it sound like something better than that."

"N-no, Sakura," Hinata said quietly, her eyes widening as she realized what Naruto just did, "look c-closely. They are s-solid." Hinata watched as Sakura inspected the clones, and widened her own eyes. The pink-haired kunoichi walked up to the clones, and grabbed two of them.

She gasped. "H-how? T-they're solid!" doing a fair impression of Hinata, slight blush included.

All Narutos grinned wide at Sakura's reaction and one said, "That's not all. I have another move that can instantly take out any guy. Want to see it?"

Sakura was not thinking straight and nodded, agreeing to see his jutsu.

"Okay! You!" Naruto shouted, pointing at one of his clones, "Stand over there! Everyone else, get ready! HENTAI, Hidden Ero Ninjutsu, Tactile Arts Index 2: Harem no jutsu!"

Naruto and all his clones (minus the one Naruto picked out) changed into naked women and clung to the still Naruto clone, and made sexy noises.

The clone sported a major noise bleed before passing out and disappearing. All Naruto clones disappeared, and Naruto returned to his normal self. He turned to Sakura with a big smile, and tried to say, "See Sakura? Awesome, wasn't it!" but was stopped halfway through the first syllable by Sakura's fist.

"Hentai? You idiot, what's wrong with you!" Sakura shouted at the smudge on a tree that was Naruto, "Even thinking up something like that… ugh, you pervert!"

Sakura looked at him crushed into the tree, looking dazed, made a Charlie Brown type of noise, then turned to Hinata. She looked worried; not for herself, but for Naruto.

"Hinata, are you coming tonight? To our kunoichi get together?"

"U-um… ye-yeah…." Hinata stammered, looking nervously at Naruto, as he hadn't gotten up yet.

"Okay, you remember where it is?" Sakura said and looked at Naruto.

Hinata relaxed as Naruto got up and dusted himself off, "Ye-yeah."

Sakura looked back at Hinata, smiled, then said, "Okay, see you there!" and left.

Hinata and Naruto sat there in silence for a few moments, staring in the direction Sakura had gone, and then Naruto spoke up.

"Hinata, do you think Sakura hates me?" Hinata blushed deeply, as this was the first time he has ever actually talked to her, and she was unable to form any words.

He sighed after a moment of her silence and said "I knew it…" sounding depressed.

Hinata was able to find her voice, and quickly said, "N-no, N-Naruto-kun, she doesn't hate you." This was probably not the best thing for Hinata to say, as it would mean a harder time for her to get him when she worked up the nerve to confess to Naruto, but leaving him unhappy so she could have her happiness easier was something she could never do.

She begun twiddling her fingers and averting Naruto's eyes, blushing slightly, as he was staring directly at her, "S-Sakura just can't see you for who you are right now. I-I'm sure she will eventually, N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto stared at her a moment longer before smiling. "Thanks Hinata, I knew it was a good idea to ask you!"

Naruto continued to look at her, waiting for her to say something, but she couldn't think of anything. She begun blushing harder now that he was just watching her.

"Hinata?" Naruto asked stepping towards her.

"N-N-Na-N-Naruto-k-kun?" she stuttered as he stepped within arms length of her.

"Hey, Hinata," he said and leaned in towards her face, "are you sick or something? Your face is all red." He then placed his hand on her head, and she passed out.

"Uwaaah!" he yelped as she feel into him, "H-Hinata! What's wrong? Hey, wake up!" he said, shaking her lightly to wake her up.

She stayed unconscious though. Naruto had no idea what to do, so he picked her up. He didn't know where she lived. He knew the general area, but he was not allowed in the richer parts of Konoha, so he didn't know exactly where her house was. If he asked for directions, he would either be given fake directions, ignored, or attacked for having an unconscious Hyuuga.

He couldn't bring her back to the school, as they shut it down for the rest of the day and he had enough people wanting him dead with out him breaking trespassing laws. There were only two places for him, home and Ichiraku's. Ichiraku's was all they way on the other side of Konoha, at least 25 minutes if he was carrying Hinata. On the other hand, his house was right around the corner. He didn't want to be attacked because he looked like he was kidnapping someone, and Hinata was quite obviously sick.

His choice might as well have been made for him. He created a clone to go ahead of him and be a look out. He then carried her bridal style from tree to tree, not wanting to be seen. He made it to the street area, and waited in the tree for his clone to signal him.

Hinata woke up as he was waiting for the clones signal. She looked at him for a moment, before blushing more intensely than before, and made a squeaky mouse-like sound.

He looked at her, then smiled. "Don't worry Hinata, we are going to my house. I'm going to take care of you, okay?"

'Going to Naruto-kun's house? He's going to take care of me? He couldn't mean…' Hinata thought as she fell back into unconsciousness. Naruto frowned for a moment, then looked back towards the street. He saw his clone come out from around a corner, and wave him down.

* * *

Hinata opened her eyes and stared at a ceiling light. She felt heavy, hot, and something wet was on her forehead. She tried to sit up, but she couldn't move. She blinked a few times, and looked down towards her obstruction. There were three blankets wrapping around her like a cocoon from her feet to her neck. She looked around the room, and saw Naruto flipping through a book nervously.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said quietly, and he looked at her.

"Oh!" He said smiling, putting his book down, "You're awake… again." She looked at the book, and it was titled 'How to deal with colds, flus, and fevers.' She looked at him questioningly, blushed, then looked away.

"You got sick when we were in the forest," he explained hurriedly, not wanting her to get the wrong idea, "I didn't know where you lived, so I bought you here."

Hinata, looking like a tomato-headed caterpillar with lavender hair, sunk as far into the blankets as possible, and looked at Naruto. "T-thank you, N-Naruto-kun." She mumbled through the blankets.

"Well, ya know…" Naruto said blushing slightly and scratching the back of his head. He straightened up, and turned to looked at his clock. "I sent some clones to find Sakura-chan, Tenten, or Kurenai, but that was an hour ago. I don't know if they found them yet, but you can't stay here. N-not that I hate you or something, it's just I would prefer not to be executed by your father." Naruto said, laughing at the last bit.

Hinata's blush faded as she remembered her father talking to one of associates. He said how he would kill 'the demon' if he ever got an excuse. Her eyes begun watering as she thought that over. She didn't deserve Naruto's kindness. "H-huh? Hinata?" Naruto called.

She didn't even deserve a second look. There's no way she would ever deserve Naruto's love, let alone anyone else. She was part of such a horrible family.

"Hinata, are you okay? Did I do something wrong?"

Not once did she ever stand up for Naruto to her father. Not even from villagers or the other kids at school, and he was kind to her regardless.

"U-uh, Hinata, whatever I did, I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!"

Before Hinata could continue her own mental abuse, the front door opened, and a Naruto clone walked in. "Hey boss, I found Tenten!" the clone said proudly.

Tenten walked out from behind him, and looked from Naruto to Hinata, back to Naruto. "Ahh, Naruto! What did you do!"

"I-I don't know! She started crying, and wont tell me why!" Naruto said quickly, then looked to Tenten with pleading eyes.

Tenten made an exasperated sigh, then walked into the room and picked up Hinata. She shed Hinata's cocoon, then slung her over her shoulder so she was holding her legs against her chest.

"U-uwaah! T-T-Tenten, w-what are you doing! It's e-embarrassing, p-put me down!" Hinata squeaked, wriggling the whole time like a worm trying to get free.

"Thank you for taking care of Hinata, Naruto. You didn't do anything wrong," Tenten reassured Naruto, "She's sick, you know? She probably is hallucinating or something. Alright, I'll see you later!"

Tenten then walked out of the house with the squirming Hinata. The Naruto clone looked at Naruto and said, "What happened?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Naruto told his clone, "I might've insulted her father somehow, though."

"Idiot! He's scary, don't get him mad at us!" the clone shouted at Naruto.

"Shut up! Don't call me an idiot, were the same person." Naruto said and dispelled the clone, along with all other clones he sent to find help.

* * *

Tenten reached the roof of Naruto's apartment building, and dropped Hinata.

"Tenten! Why did you do that?" Hinata said through sniffles.

"Because it was hilarious. Now, tell me why you were crying. Did Naruto do something?" Tenten asked, sitting down next to Hinata.

"No, it was me. I am a horrible person," Hinata rambled shakily, "and he was so nice to me. I don't deserve it."

Tenten sighed and said, "Calm down. Take a deep breath. Now tell me how exactly you are a horrible person, and then I will explain to you why you're wrong."

Hinata took a breath, then looked at Tenten, "He gets treated horribly, by everyone; my father too. Everyone is so mean to him, and I never helped him. I am too much of a coward to even help the most important person to me. All of that, and he is still nice to me. Not once have I-" Hinata stopped short when Tenten raised her hands and grabbed Hinata's face, cupping her cheeks in her hands.

"Hinata, you are blaming yourself for what other people have done," Tenten explained, "none of that is your fault. Your dad and the villages treat him bad, not you, understand? Naruto doesn't blame you, so you shouldn't either. If you feel bad about what other people do, then you should try to make Naruto happy."

"Happy? Like how?" Hinata said, staring at Tenten curiously.

"Well… you could sneak into his bedroom at night and… you know? That would make him real happy, I bet." Tenten said with a perverted smirk on her face.

Hinata's face turned deep red, and smoke came out of her head as she thought about it. "T-T-T-TENTEN! I-I-I-I C-C-COULDN'T!" Hinata shouted, and some blood trickled down her nose at the thought.

She pushed Hinata's cheeks towards her mouth so she looked like a fish, and smiled. "It was a joke, a joke! Just try your best to make his life more enjoyable, and I'm sure he would be happy." Tenten told Hinata, and watched as Hinata's blush started to fade.

Tenten let go of her cheeks, then begun talking again. "So, Hinata," she started, "I noticed your jacket was open when I got there. Do you think Naruto copped a feel while you were out?" and watched as Hinata's blush went back up to full, and she sputtered.

Tenten laughed and put her hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Hehehe, man you're so fun to tease. Alright, Hinata, lets get going. The first meeting is starting soon; we'll be late if we don't hurry!" Tenten said, then helped Hinata up.

They smiled at each other for a moment, then Hinata said, "Thank you, Tenten. I'm glad you're my friend."

"I know, I know. Lets go before I break out in tears." Tenten said sarcastically, and then the two jumped to the adjacent building and headed to their destination.

* * *

Hinata and Tenten arrived at a restaurant in the center of Konoha, and found Ino, Sakura and Ami waiting for them.

"Wow, I thought you guy's might not make it!" Ino said loudly, and lead them to their table.

"So no one else could make it?" Tenten asked as she sat down.

"Nah," Ami said, "they couldn't make it today, but they will be here next time."

"Maybe…" Ino said thoughtfully.

"Maybe?" Sakura asked her best frienemy, "What do ya mean by that, Ino-pig?"

"Well, did your senseis tell you about a survival test tomorrow?" Ino asked, and continued when they nodded. "Well, mine told us that these test are extremely difficult, and there is only a 33% success rate. That means that it might only be just us that are still ninja. We might even be the ones to fail!"

It was quiet for a couple seconds, before Ami spoke up. "Oh, come on guys! Your sensei probably only said that to scare you. And if you keep thinking like this you'll definitely fail, right? You gotta keep positive, and only think about good things. Like, what about the boys on your teams? I know none of us could get Sasuke-kun or Neji-kun, but anyone else worth anything? Sakura?"

Sakura snorted then said, "I got an idiotic pervert on my team."

Sakura looked like she was going to continue, and Hinata was looking upset, so Tenten spoke before she continued. "Ino! how about you, what about your team? Anything good?"

"Oh, that's a good one! I got the shot end of the stick with all of them, sensei and teammates. Our sensei took, like an hour to come pick us up. Then after we ask him why he was late, he said he didn't like us. I also got teamed with Shino and Kiba. The only way it could be worse, was if I got Naruto on my team."

Hinata sank her head a little bit.

"At least you got a choice, Ino-pig." Sakura said helpfully.

"Oh yeah, dog breath or bug boy, great options." Ino said sarcastically, "but I know what you mean. Naruto will be the only guy you get to be around."

"Oh my god, don't remind me!" Sakura said, and Hinata sunk a little lower, "he is so annoying! He's annoying, selfish, and just over all worthless!"

Tenten was about to try and say something in his defense, least Hinata become permanently depressed, when the most unexpected thing happened. Hinata spoke up. Quite loudly, too.

"NO!" Hinata shouted loud enough to get every ones attention, but due to her normally quiet voice, not loud enough to disturb the other patrons. "Naruto-kun's not like that!" Hinata said firmly.

"He might be a little silly sometimes, but he is the best person I know! He works hard for everyone to acknowledge him, but no one ever does. He is kind to everyone, even people who hurt him. He even saved my life once." Hinata said, but paused when she realized she was speaking her thoughts aloud.

"He saved your life? How?" Ami demanded.

"I-It was when I was l-little." Hinata said, her stammer returning momentarily, "I w-was kidnapped w-when I was 5. T-the land of lightning sent a ninja to a-abduct me. He broke into my h-house, and put m-me in a sack. I c-couldn't do anything, but I watched from inside the b-bag. The n-ninja was about to leave the village, when he was attacked by N-Naruto-kun."

"Wait, a 5 year old Naruto just attacked a random ninja for no reason?" Ino asked, a bit skeptical.

"No, N-Naruto-kun had seen the man r-running through the streets, and could h-hear me in the bag, crying. He t-threw a rock at the man, and then t-tackled him. He went to stab N-Naruto-kun, and caught him in the h-hand. He got up to leave, but N-Naruto-kun grabbed onto him, and told him he wasn't getting away with k-kidnapping an innocent girl. The man k-kicked him to the side, and then otou-sama arrived and k-killed the man. N-Naruto-kun got up, and a-asked my father if I was alright, and he was threatened with e-execution if he interfered any more."

"Your dad really said that after he helped?" Sakura asked with a shocked expression.

"Y-yeah, he did. I don't know why, but all of the adults hate him for seemingly no reason. They want to exile or execute him for things like pranks. He doesn't have a family, and everyone hates him. He acts like he does so people notice him, that's all. He just wants to be acknowledged."

"Yeah, now that I think about it, my parents get really upset when they hear about anything he does." Ami said after a moment of silence, "and other people too. I remember him getting thrown out of a store one time, but I figured it was because he pranked the owner or something."

"Hey, Hinata, does he know it was you," Sakura said after thinking about different hateful villagers, "in the bag that night. Did you ever tell him?"

"N-no," Hinata stuttered blushing slightly, "I-I don't really t-talk to him."

Ino's eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed on Hinata. She kept watching as Tenten started talking. "You know, you guys might not believe me, but he beat Sasuke in a fight."

Sakura snorted, "Yeah right! When? He constantly challenged him, but he always loses!"

Ino hadn't taken her eyes off Hinata, but Hinata hadn't noticed.

"I don't know how, it might've been that jutsu he was talking about. He attacked him during our break before our senseis came. We couldn't see cause they were in a building, but Naruto left shortly after. We went to see what happened, and Sasuke was tied up. He looked pissed. That's why he was almost late for our senseis"

Hinata started smiling halfway through Tenten's recollection of the event, and had begun blushing again at the end. Ino's eyes widened, and then she smiled. "Hinata, I have a question. Do you have anyone you like?"

Hinata shifted a little, and started twiddling her fingers a little. "U-u-um… w-why would you ask me that?" she said, averting her eyes and blushing a bit.

Ino smiled a bit bigger, and said, "Oh, all this Naruto talk got me wondering," and Hinata started blushing more, "he wouldn't happen to be short, blonde-haired, and wears a bright orange jumpsuit, would he?"

Both Ami and Sakura were watching Hinata intently, and Tenten had her face covered by one of her hands, peeking through her fingers at Hinata. Hinata was remembering Naruto, being carried by him and cared for by him, and she blushed furiously. "N-n-n-no… i-i-it's not like that…"

"Oh? I understand. You been to his house yet?" Ino said teasingly, but got an unexpected reaction out of her. She blushed harder, shifted in her seat and looked away.

"You have? When? What were you doing?" Ino said, pouncing on Hinata's silence.

"No… really, Hinata?" Ami said, smiling awkwardly.

"When?" Sakura said immediately after Ami stopped talking, "You guys never interacted in the academy. Was it after I left you two in the forest?"

Hinata's hands shoot down, picked up a menu, and put it in front of her face.

"So that's why you were late!" Ino said in an elevated tone of voice, "So what exactly were you two doing that made you late, Hinata?" Ino finished, smiling and looking at Hinata as if the menu wasn't there.

Smoke was rising from Hinata's head and she pushed her face further into the menu.

"Alright, let me explain," Tenten spoke up, taking a short glance at Hinata, "before she passes out. Naruto is… well, a little bit of an idiot when it comes to a lot of things. Apparently, a women's feelings are also one of them. Hinata fainted in the forest 'cause Naruto got too close to her. She was blushing about the same as right now probably, and so he thought she was sick."

"You serious?" Ino said with disbelief on her face, "he's that dense?"

"Yeah. Well, anyway, he didn't know what to do. He didn't know where her house was, and people would probably attack him if they saw him with an unconscious Hyuuga heir, so he brought her to his house, as it was very close. His clone didn't know what happened after that, but when I got there, he had all kinds of herbal medicine in different pots trying to make medicinal tea maybe, was reading a book about flus. He also had a stack of books beside him about all kinds of different illness. Everything from chicken pox to cancer. And Hinata looked like she was in a cocoon, wrapped with like, 3 or 4 blankets, and she had a wet towel on her head."

"Oh my god, that's hilarious!" Ami said laughing, "well, at least his heart was in the right place. And what do you mean by his clone?"

"Apparently his special jutsu is Kage Bunshin. Solid clones."

Ino smiled, and turned to Hinata. "So, Hinata, about those 'solid' clones. Do you think you'd—" she started to tease, but was interrupted by Tenten.

"Ino, Ino, no more Naruto, I think Hinata might pass out with anymore."

"She'll really pass out, won't she? Oh, well some other time then. Well, what else can we talk about?"

"Well, when we pass these survival tests we will be official Genin, and we will be able to drink alcohol!" Ami added cheerfully!

They continued to talk about different things for about another hour before they left the restaurant. They had ordered very little, saving up for congratulating themselves on passing tomorrows test. They had all left and headed home to rest for tomorrows survival exercise.

* * *

Hinata, Sakura and Naruto had arrived at the training ground on time, and met up with Kurenai.

"Well, I hope you guys rested up last night, because this will be difficult. But there is going to be a little change to the test." Kurenai said, looking at them as they exchanged curious glances.

"Alright, you guys remember the other sensei I told you about?" Kurenai begun explaining, and continued after they each nodded, "You three are going to be tested by her right now. I was originally going to do it, but she'll be upset if I don't let her. Also, she might be a little scary, but don't worry. She's perfectly harmless."

Kurenai turned towards the tree thick area of the training grounds, and waved her hand.

Anko then shushined to the right of Kurenai, held her hands on her hips, and frowned. "So you are the Kurenai's Genin team, huh?" Anko said in a slightly disappointed tone, "nothing to get too worked up about, by the looks of ya…"

Kurenai almost laughed out loud, and thought 'yeah right. You've been looking forward to this for weeks. You even marked it on our calendar'

"Well, I guess we just have to use what we got." She said and changed her face into a serious one, then continued, "anyway, I will be testing your abilities as ninja. I don't know how to go easy, so just try not to let me kill you."

"I don't know how to go easy, so just try not to let me kill you." Naruto mimicked while doing a sort of chicken dance, "Yeah right! You're just trying to scare me! I'm not falling for that!"

"Wow, you're easily excited, aren't ya?" Anko said after a moment, with an ear to ear smile. Kurenai put her hand over her face, as she knew Anko was about to do something to the young blonde that he would not enjoy.

Anko flicked a kunai in her hand, and then threw it at Naruto before he could blink. It cut him along his cheek, and then she was behind him. She had her left arm wrapped around the right side of his face, pushing his cut towards her mouth, and her right arm was draped around his right shoulder and down to his left hip, snaking its way into his now open jacket.

She licked the blood slowly, the entire length of his cheek, then said, "When I see this lovely red blood of yours, I get really excited too."

Naruto paled and blushed at the same time, and was left speechless as she begun licking up the rest of the blood from his cheek. Sakura was blushing, as well as Hinata, but the Hyuuga heiress decided to stop her.

Anko leapt backwards as Hinata hit the air where she was with a powerful juken strike that visibly disrupted the air around her hand for about half a foot. "N-Naruto-kun, a-are you okay?" Hinata asked while moving into a protective position behind him.

"H-Hinata? Thank you…" Naruto said as he regained some of his color, "ugh, I feel violated…" and then he and Sakura turned to face Anko.

"Awww, you interrupted my meal," Anko said, then licked her lips and added, "I'll just have to make sure to squeeze out every last drop this time." She leaned down to pick up her kunai, held it loosely at her side, "I hope you're not the kind of guy to let the girl do all the work. Girls don't like selfish guys."

Kurenai, who had found a tree stump to sit on, blushed slightly. That last bit was almost a word for word quote from one of her 'romance' novels. 'They are probably too young to get the bit of innuendo Anko's throwing in there anyway' she thought, looking towards the aforementioned Genin to watch their reactions.

They were all blushing, which she figured was from the licking thing Anko did. "Are we really gonna have this pervert around us all the time?" Naruto said in a loud whisper.

Sakura shook her head, "Too many of those jokes and people will think you're easy, or something."

'Well, maybe they're a little more mature than I thought.' Kurenai thought as she watched the three Genin, who were not letting their eyes off Anko. Fearful that she would attempt something 'exciting' again, no doubt.

Hinata was still standing in front of Naruto protectively, and said nothing with words, but her glare told volumes. She was telling Anko that she would be dead if she attempted something like that again.

Anko smiled as she enjoyed the intensity of the young Hyuuga's glare, and lifted her kunai so it was diagonally pointed to the upper left, a few inches in front of her face. "All right you little shit's, no more playing around. The rules are simple, don't die. You have half an hour. If you die, then the results should be obvious. You die. If you aren't able to last half an hour, then you get demoted, and you have to go through the academy from the beginning."

"WHAT!" Naruto and Sakura shouted at the same time. Hinata's mouth was hanging open, and she could only think of how she would never be blessed enough to be on the same team as Naruto again.

"SHUT UP IDIOTS!' Anko yelled at the both of them, "damn, what kind of idiots yell at their teacher before a test… anyway, if you are able to make it the entire half hour, then you stay Genin. But, if I am not impressed with your abilities… actually, let's skip that part. It's not really important, and I don't need you three trying to run."

All three Genin paled and took a simultaneous step backwards. "What do you mean not important?" Naruto shouted hesitantly, "what are you gonna do?"

"Shut the fuck up, or you're gonna find out regardless of the results!" Anko shouted back. "Anyway, if you just impress me then you won't have to worry about it. And finally, if you manage to impress me, then nothing bad will happen to you. I might even take you all out to eat, or something." she finished and got into a battle stance and raising her kunai in front of her.

"What! That's all we get for this? We don't have something horrible happen, and we might get food?" Naruto said loudly under his breath.

"Well look at you, brat! You just assume you can win like it's nothing, don't you? We'll see how long that last's. Kurenai! We're starting now, set the timer."

Kurenai, who was enjoying the tough-guy act Anko was putting on, smiled and set the alarm for thirty minutes. Anko was going to say she was impressed with them regardless, or she would let them through the entire half hour. She watched as the three Genin drew kunai and put some distance between them.

"Hinata, Sakura-chan," Naruto called to his fellow Genin, "we only have half an hour. Let's attack all out, and if it gets bad I'll cover our escape. Hide for as long as you can, then on my signal, we jump her again. Okay?"

Sakura and Hinata both nodded once in agreement, then Sakura spoke up. "Wait, how are you gonna cover our escape? And what signal?" she asked.

Naruto answered with, "You'll know when it happens. So are we ready?"

"Ready!" Anko yelled from directly behind him. All three almost literally jumped out of their skins. "Done planning yet? Time has already started, ya know." She said as they scrambled away from her.

"Aggggh, lets go!" Naruto shouted, "Let's teach her not to underestimate us! Hinata, Sakura, henge into me!" and they complied. Three Naruto's stood in the middle of the field as the middle put his hands in a cross seal, and shouted "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Around 200 clones filled the field, and shouted battle cries as they charged Anko. Anko maneuvered through them, occasionally killing one of them. She smiled, but said nothing as she jumped into the air. She grabbed several explosive tags and threw them around the field, killing about half of the clones.

She saw three Naruto's standing outside of the rest next to the forest. She threw three shuriken at them, and smiled as they dodged them. 'So the brat set some clones aside on purpose? Not bad.' Anko thought as she landed, and killed several more clones with a fireball jutsu.

She summoned two snakes from each of her sleeves, and begun fighting them as if she didn't find out what she just did. After a few minutes of fighting through clones, she ran towards the three clones, wanting to see what they had set up. "I already know where you are!" she shouted, and leapt towards the three clones. She shot out three of her snakes to kill the clones, and waited. Some of the clones behind her started dispersing. 'Nice effect. I might've thought I got you.' Anko thought, smiling.

"G-Got ya!" the dieing clones said, then dispersed. She turned around and saw three Narutos running at her, then jump into the air and threw kunai.

'there they are. Yup these one's are moving like the two girls.' Anko dodged the kunai, then shot out her snakes and ensnared the three Narutos. "That was okay, I guess, but not good enough to-" Anko began, but was interrupted by two bodies latching onto her. She looked down to see a smiling Naruto and Sakura holding onto her tightly.

"What?" Anko managed, but was unable to get more than that, as she was then struck by a Hyuuga style juken strike in her back. She shivered for a moment, then coughed up some blood. "G-Got ya!" Anko said before she turned into a body-sized block of wood. 'Wow! I wasn't paying attention, and they angled my back to the forest. They almost caught me with that one.' Anko thought from behind the Hyuuga.

Three larger than Boa Constrictor sized snakes wrapped up and around the three Genin, and prevented any further struggle from them. "All right, you lose. Kurenai, how long did they last?"

"12 minutes and 23 seconds." Kurenai said as she got off her stump and headed to where the Genin were being confined.

"12 minutes? Honestly more than I expected at first, but that wasn't too bad. If I were a Chunin, you probably would've killed me. I heard you could make clones like that, but you made over 200 clones, and your not even tired. That bit with the clones moving like the girls at the end was pretty slick too, considering your grades suck at the academy." Anko had stopped talking for a moment, and then looked at the ensnared kunoichi.

"You girls didn't really play an active role for most of the time, but you worked together quite well and secured the finishing blow at the end. Overall, I'm impressed with all of you." She finished her little speech, and then smiled. "Now you get to keep all your body parts, dignity, and your self respect." The three still trapped Genin paled.

"What!" Naruto hollered, "what was gonna happen if we failed!"

"Oh my, did I say that out loud?" Anko said cheerfully, "well, it doesn't matter now. You passed! So who wants some food!" then the three Genin looked green in the face.

"Anko," Kurenai started, placing her hand on Anko's shoulder, "maybe we should let them go for today. They're probably tired, and they might throw up if they eat now."

The snake bound teens nodded vigorously, and she continued. "We can take them out tomorrow, so let them rest for today."

She was quiet for a moment, and then dispelled the snakes. "Fine, go home or whatever." Then pulled out her favorite kunai and begun fiddling with it as she walked towards the stump Kurenai had previously graced with her presence, and sat down.

Kurenai leaned towards her students. "Sorry about her, she gets too excited sometimes, but she means well. And about the body parts and dignity thing, she was just kidding…" Kurenai whispered, then paused and looked worried for a moment, "…I think… anyway, she is harmless now and she'll consider you like family soon, too. That's how she is." Naruto's eyes grew slightly, thinking about what Kurenai just said.

"… Family?" Naruto whispered, barely audibly. Sakura, Hinata, and Kurenai heard it though and looked at him. His eyes watered slightly and he took a step backwards, tilting his head down so his face was hidden by his hair. "Um, I kinda have something to do, so if that's all I have to go." Naruto said, his voice a little shaky at the end.

"Be back at seven AM tomorrow. You're dismissed, Naruto." Kurenai responded quickly. Naruto bowed, then ran away from the field and jumped up onto a building.

"What's wrong with him?" Sakura said, watching as the blonde leapt out of sight.

"He's an orphan. He is… 'disliked', by a vast majority of the villagers, so he was never adopted," Kurenai explained, "he is also rarely shown kindness. Imagining someone actually considering him family and treating him as such… I don't know what exactly he's feeling right now, so I probably shouldn't say anything else." Kurenai was silent for a moment, then said, "If you want to know more, you should talk to him. I'm sure he would appreciate it. So anyway, be here tomorrow at seven in the morning, and we'll start training and missions."

Author's box

* * *

Holy crap, I wrote a lot! This chapter wasn't supposed to be this long, but I liked how it went. Don't expect them all to be this long, but I will try and make them as long as I can. Yeah, just review please. I have tried to continue my other 2 stories, but people didn't comment on the last chapter for the first one, and not at all for the second one. Just a 'I liked it, bro' or 'sounds cool, bro' or even a 'I didn't like it at all, bro' is enough to help me finish the story. A review means you care enough to leave a comment. If you don't review this story, it will die, and the possible future author in me will die. Thank you.


	2. 02 Newfound Affection

I used to own Naruto, but I lost the rights in a poker game… along with my clothes… I have gambling issues…

So yeah, don't make assumptions, even though I'm assuming that you will, until later on. That's all I will say.

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

We visit Naruto directly after he left training ground 12. He made it home with tear streaked cheeks, laid down in his bed, placing a pillow over his face, and rested there with his hands at his sides.

"…Family…" he whispered from under the pillow after several seconds of silence. He had often imagined what family would be like as a child, but when he turned 10, he had resigned to the fact that no one would ever love him, let alone consider him family.

He had never thought he would actually get a family, he just liked to fantasize about it. But in all of his fantasies and daydreams, he never had family anything like Anko. He squeezed his eyes shut beneath the pillow, and told himself not to expect anything, not to hope, because something like family was impossible for Uzumaki Naruto.

He had resigned himself to solitude, and his only saving grace was Sakura-chan. Naruto's pink haired angel, as she gave him more attention than anyone. Even when he wasn't tying to get noticed, or wasn't pulling pranks, she would notice him and yell at or hit him for whatever reason.

While normal people might not consider this a good thing, it was the best thing Naruto knew, as that was the only attention he received. She had acknowledged his existence, even if only slightly, and it made Naruto the happiest he'd ever been when he realized it.

She hadn't given him hateful or hurtful insults, like some other kids and most adults, either. She would call him an idiot or a pervert or annoying, but never anything really hurtful. She had been gradually getting worse, though, ever since Sasuke entered the academy 2 years ago. She started paying less attention to him, and started only noticing Sasuke. And all of the attention she was giving him was starting to change, slowly turning from just loud to hurtful.

He was afraid he would lose his only chance at family when Sasuke showed up, so he struggled to get stronger. Every training exercise he could make it through, then 10 more. He challenged Sasuke every month, and lost miserably the first time. Every month, though, he would last longer against him and actually get hits in, up until last month when Sasuke was forced to use jutsu against him to win.

Naruto wasn't very good at jutsu, and could only do the Henge No Jutsu properly. Him fighting Sasuke had also inspired that Rock Lee person, who also couldn't use jutsu, to keep trying. Rock Lee was about to drop out, but watching Naruto make progress against Sasuke had changed him.

Naruto had surpassed Sasuke, in his mind, when he beat him at lunch the other day. Although he was able to beat Sasuke, the victory felt empty because he surprise attacked him and Sakura didn't see it. Although stealth and surprise attacks are a ninja's tool, he wanted to beat him in a face-to-face fight in front of Sakura so she would acknowledge him again.

Naruto sat up, taking the pillow off his face and wiping the remainder of the tears from his eyes. He had calmed down quite a bit since he got home; he got up and went to the bathroom and turned the faucet on. After waiting about 5 seconds for it to stop sputtering, he began washing his face. He looked into the fractured mirror above the sink, and heard a low growl.

He looked around the room, and then back into the mirror. He blinked a few times, just staring at his reflection and listening, but neither saw nor heard anything more. Decideding it was probably his stomach growling, and went to make himself some food.

He grabbed an instant ramen cup from the cabinet, and started to boil some water. He zipped up his still open jacket, sat at the table, and zoned out staring at a hole in the wall.

He stared for a long time. It wasn't until a muffled sizzling sound started to creep through to rouse his awareness did he move again. He snapped out of his trance, and got up. He looked around, and then the sizzling sound became clear. It was his water. All of the water had evaporated, and the bottom of the pot was making a hissing type of sound.

He shut the stove off, and then sighed. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall, and saw that it was 10 AM. He somehow zoned out for an hour and a half. He occasionally zones out from time to time when he isn't doing anything, or waiting for something, but the longest he ever did was probably 25 minutes. It didn't really seem dangerous or important at all, so he just waved it off and started his day.

He decided to go out now that it was late enough for Ichiraku's to be open. He would go there and get some food, then he would go train for a while. Now that Sasuke was out of the way, if he gets strong enough then Sakura would finally notice him. He walked out the door, took a deep breath, then put on his big smile, and walked out onto the road.

He started walking to his favorite place in Konoha, taking the long way to kill some time, when he walked into Ino and Ami.

"Oh, hey Naruto," Ami called with a smile as she noticed him, "where are you going?"

He looked at her and gave a cautious smile. "Uh…I was just going to get something to eat, why?" he said, unsure of her intentions. She had never really interacted with him before, neither had Ino, and he had leaned to be weary of 'instantaneous friendliness'.

"Mind if we come with you?" Ino asked him also with a smile, "We wanted to talk to you."

Naruto was quiet for a moment, his smile completely gone. His face fell into a neutral one as he shifted his gaze from blue eyes to brown ones. "That's fine," he said, putting his smile back on, "it's this way, where I'm getting food." He put his hands into his jacket pockets, and turned and started walking towards Ichiraku's ramen booth-type restaurant.

Ami and Ino lost their smiles and exchanged a questioning nervous glance, and then jogged up to Naruto. Ino slowed down at his right side, and Ami at his left. He gave them each a quick glance without breaking stride, but said nothing.

"So, Naruto," Ino said as they walked, "where are we going?" and regained her smile.

"Ichiraku's ramen shop." Naruto said promptly, not saying anymore than he had to.

"Ichiraku's? I've never heard of that place before," Ami said curiously, "did it just open?"

"No. They've been open since before I was born." Naruto said with fake joyfulness.

"Oh, well, do you go there cause it's really good or something?" Ami asked him curiously.

"They do make good ramen, but I go there because they don't try to attack or poison me."

"What?" Ino shouted, "You're joking, right? Don't kid around like that, Naruto!"

Naruto looked around, and then pointed to a shop. "Try going in that one looking like me," he told her calmly, "watch what happens."

Naruto had stopped walking and was looking at her. "You-you're serious? They really do that?" Ino said in disbelief.

Naruto hadn't moved, or stopped staring at her. His smile was gone again, and he was waiting to see what she did. "…Okay," she said after a moments hesitation, "Just look like you, right?" Naruto nodded, and she inspected his clothes and face for a second. Then she put her hands together and transformed into Naruto. "This good?" she questioned, and got another nod from Naruto.

Ami and Naruto watched as Ino walked into the store. "So what's gonna happen?" Ami asked curiously.

"It will happen before I can explain it," he said calmly, "just watch."

"GET OUT OF MY STORE, YOU LITTLE SHIT! GET YOUR FILTHY LITTLE DEMON CLAWS OFF MY MERCHANDISE!" a man shouted from inside the store. Naruto put his hands together and transformed into his girl version in a kimono.

Ino disguised as Naruto bolted out of the store, and nursed her head for a second before jumping up onto a building.

The man came out carrying a small metal club like object, about the twice the size of a kunai, and scanned the crowed looking for Naruto. Ironically, he looked dead at Naruto in disguise 3 times before he went back into the shop.

Ami was stunned, her jaw was hanging open, and she wasn't able to say anything. "Should we go see if Ino's okay?" Naruto said, and Ami nodded after a moment. Naruto really didn't care if she was fine or if she had brain damage, but he wanted to see her reactions and hear what she had to say.

Naruto jumped up the building and Ami followed. When they landed on the roof, Naruto dispelled his jutsu and scanned the roof for Ino. He saw her leaning against a vent-type protrusion from the roof, and approached her.

Ino was just groaning slightly with her hand on the back of her head. "It's fun to be me, isn't it?" Naruto said, looking down at Ino.

She looked up at him slowly, and moaned, "ugh… what the fuck…"

"Now if you're done playing games, leave me alone. I have things to do." Naruto said, and watched as Ami helped Ino up.

"G-Games?" Ino said weakly. Naruto snorted and looked down towards the shop.

"That's why you're here isn't it? You weren't that close to my house for no reason. You were gonna have me think you were nice, then do something to me. After so many times, that stops working."

"No, Naruto, that wasn't it!" Ami explained desperately, a little rattled by how quickly everything went sour, "We really came to talk to you. We pretended to just run into you because we thought if you knew we wanted to talk to you, you would run away or something."

Naruto looked at Ami for a second, then looked at the weak looking Ino leaning against her. "What are you doing? You should be fine already, they don't hit that hard." Naruto said, wondering what she could hope to accomplish from faking like that.

"What are you talking about," Ami shouted, "didn't you see that club that dude was carrying? That must've hurt like nobody's business! She probably has a concussion!"

"I've been hit by much bigger, and I've never took more than a minute to be fine." Naruto said, looking back at Ami.

"And that's insane!" she shouted out instantly, emotion making its way into her voice, "Someone shouldn't get hit in the head with something like that, and be fine a minute later!" Ami shifted a bit, giving Ino more support as she was slumping a little.

"Well I've done it plenty of times, and besides being a girl, Ino is just like…" Naruto started, but stopped mid sentence. That's right, there was a huge difference. Ino didn't have a demon. Naruto had seen it a few times before, someone getting injured, and always thought it weird that they never healed like he did. Someone could break an arm and take weeks to heal, but it would only take him a day for the same injury. "…is she okay?" Naruto asked after his thought process finished. Ino had picked on him a little when they were younger, but like Sakura, she never was hurtful, just loud. And if they really just wanted to talk with him, then Ino wasn't someone to take out his anger on.

"I don't know, she hasn't really said anything," Ami said looking to Naruto, then to Ino. "Ino? Can you hear me?"

Ino was slumped on Ami, eyes halfway open, and was a paling. She tried to nod, but couldn't quiet complete the action. Naruto walked up to her, and waved a hand in front of her face. Her eyes moved a little, but that was it. "Let me see her head," Naruto told Ami calmly.

Ami knelt on the floor and shifted Ino so the back of her head was facing Naruto. Naruto saw a red spot, and moved her hair out of the way. He looked at the spot on her head, and saw it was torn open. He inspected it for a moment, not knowing exactly what to do, but he had read a few medical books on head injuries he checked out from the library as his female self.

He was about to pull away, when something strange happened. Her wound started pushing out blood, some dirt and hair that was in the wound, and then begun closing up. He watched until it was finished, then pulled away. Ino sat up straight, blinked a few times, then grabbed at the back of her head. "Ino?" Ami asked, staring curiously at her.

"Naruto… what did you do?" she asked with confusion in her voice. Ami turned to Naruto as well, and just watched him.

"I don't know. It healed… like one of mine would."

"Like one of yours would?" Ami asked, "What do you mean?"

Naruto thought for a second, then pulled out a kunai and sliced his palm open. "NARUTO!" Ino shrieked, "What the hell are you doing!"

Naruto looked at the blood gushing from his hand for a second before wiping most of it away, and showing them the wound. The two edges of his cut pulled towards one another, connected, then sizzled and burned. A small amount of smoke rose from his cut, and after a total of 6 seconds, the only thing left was a thin scar along his palm.

"Wha-how did-why can you do that?" Ino fumbled out while staring at his hand, then felling the back of her head again. Naruto closed his hand into a fist, and brought it so he was looking closely at his closed palm.

"I guess it's... sort of like a Kekki Genkai. Since I was little, it has always healed me so I assumed it was normal for everyone. No one ever talked to me about it, so I figured everyone had it. But now I know for sure. I'm the only one. I don't know why it would work for someone I touched, though."

"Oh, well, I don't really care how it works, you really helped me. Thank you, Naruto" Ino said, smiling at him for the last bit.

Naruto just stared at her for a moment, then a real smile crept on his face as he scratched at the back of his head. "Well… I really didn't do anything, you know?"

"Didn't do anything?" Ino repeated, then scoffed, "I would've still had a hole in my head if you 'didn't do anything', Naruto. Now say your welcome, or you'll regret it."

Naruto smiled a little bigger, and laughed. "Your welcome, Ino. Well, now that I've pretty much saved your life and all, I think you owe me. You have to do any one thing I tell you to, no matter what I tell you to do, you have to do it."

"What! What do you want me to do?" Ino asked, raising her voice a bit in concern.

"Well… come over hear and I'll tell you, I don't think Ami should hear this." Naruto said waving her over using only his hand.

"I think you should at least hear him out," Ami added with a perverted grin, "I mean, I think you kinda owe him your life right now." Ami then pushed Ino towards Naruto, and Ino shot her an evil glare.

"I'll hear what you have to say, but don't expect anything, midget!" Ino shouted at Naruto. The vertically challenged blonde just grinned and waved her over again.

She blushed slightly, walked over to him and leaned towards him (she's like half a foot taller than him). He whispered something in her ear, than her face became red, and she punched him on top of his head.

"That's what you want? Idiot!" she hollered at him, blushing a little more and turning away from him.

"What's he want?" Ami asked curiously.

"He wants me to pay for lunch!" Ino shouted through her blush, walking back to Ami.

"Disappointed? What did you think I was going to ask, Ino?" Naruto said, grinning a little wider.

Ino blushed a little harder. "NO! And what was I supposed to think with the way you were talking!"

Ami laughed. "Ino, you keep this up, and you'll end up doing something to make Hinata sad!" Ino spun to Ami, mouth hanging open and blushing deeply, but she said nothing. "Anyway, Naruto, weren't we going to get some food? Ino's paying, right?"

"Yeah, let's go." Naruto said, not understanding why Hinata was mentioned, but mentally waving it off.

"Y-yeah, let's go." Ino said, and turned back to Naruto, "Lead the way, shorty, we don't know where it is."

They jumped down to the street, and Ami pulled Ino back away from Naruto. "I always knew you liked to gossip and all," she whispered, "but if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were flirting up there!"

"Good thing you do know better, right?" Ino said, and put right fist into her left palm and cracked her knuckles.

"Okay, okay! I just found my common sense, sorry!" Ami said, and they walked back up to Naruto. He was walking cheerfully, holding his hands behind his head, and grinning almost stupidly.

"What are you smiling like an idiot for?" Ino asked as she caught back up to the other blonde.

"Did you hear us talking?" Ami asked, and got shot an intense glare by Ino.

"I'm imaging eating ramen," he answered through his grin, then turned to them. "Why, what were you talking about?"

"Wow, Tenten was right…" Ami mumbled under her breath.

"Well anyway, Ichiraku's is right down there!" Naruto said pointing down the road, "Come on, I can smell the ramen from here!" and ran down towards the heavenly smell.

"Can you smell anything, Ami?" Ino asked curiously.

"Well… I think someone nearby skipped a few weeks worth of baths, but no ramen."

"Hmm… It doesn't really matter, I guess, lets go." Ino said, and jogged with Ami up to Naruto.

They saw a flash of orange duck into a small booth, and followed. They pushed past the curtains into the booth, greeted the slightly older than middle aged man, and then sat on either side of Naruto. The shop had one other patron, an older man who sat on the far right of the booth. He was finishing a dango stick, with a large bowl of ramen under that.

A young brown-haired woman came into view behind the counter. "Oh, are these your friends Naruto?" she asked with a worried look on her face. She had never seen these two, and they were being too friendly

"Yeah, I guess so. I helped Ino earlier, so she's buying me ramen." Naruto said, gesturing to Ino and smiling.

"Oh goodness," Ayame said shaking her head, "what did she do to deserve that?" The ramen waitress's features softened. She knew of people tying to hurt Naruto by pretending to befriend him, but Naruto had gotten very hard to trick like that anymore. If Naruto wasn't worried, then they were fine with her. "Naruto, aren't you going to introduce us?" Ayame asked patiently. She tries her best to help Naruto remember proper manners and the like, but sometimes (more times than not) he needs a little nudge to remember.

"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, looked at the ramen waitress and cook. He pointed to Ino, "Ino," then pointed to Ami, "Ami." He then spun on the stool to face Ami and Ino, then pointed to Ayame, "Ayame-nee-chan," then pointed to Teuchi, "and Teuchi-oji-san. That good?"

"I… I guess so, but Naruto, you should try to practice that a little more." Ayame said with a strange smile.

"So how did you help her?" Teuchi wondered, preparing a bowl of ramen that Naruto ordered before the girls arrived, "must've been petty big for her to pay for _your_ kind of lunch."

"She went into a store henged as me." Naruto said, and they both froze. Ami and Ino exchanged glances at this reaction, but said nothing.

"And why did she do that?" Ayame asked after a moment of silence.

"Well, I kind of told her to. They were acting suspicious, so I wanted her to know, at least a little bit, what my life was like."

Ayame was glaring at the oblivious blonde. "Naruto! I thought you promised you would never do that again! You promised you wouldn't turn like them!"

Naruto shrunk deeply into his stool, apparently just realizing she was mad. "B-but this was different! She agreed after I told her about it, and I was there! I wasn't gonna let something like that happen again!"

"U-um, he's right. I heard how he was treated, then henged cause I wanted to see it first hand!" Ino explained in Naruto's defense.

Ayame shifted her gaze to Ino, and she sunk into her stool as Naruto had. "Um… what happened before?" Ami asked, growing curious about the issue Ayame was referring to.

Ayame was still glaring from Ino to Naruto, when she closed her eyes and sighed. "If Naruto feels like telling you, he can."

"I'll tell you later," Naruto said quickly, fearing any mention of the events would incite actual punishment from Ayame, "but right now, what did you want to talk with me about? You said you wanted to talk when I met you right?"

"Yeah, we mainly wanted to learn about how people treated you, and get to know you better and stuff… Especially Ino." Ami said, and got a glare from Ino when Naruto turned to look at Ami.

"Especially Ino? what do you mean?" Naruto asked curiously.

"S-she just means I want to ask you the questions!" Ino said, shifting her glare to a smile when Naruto turned to look at her. Ayame giggled, as she was leaning against the counter on her hands, just watching their interactions.

"Order up, Naruto!" Teuchi said, placing Naruto's ramen in front of him. Naruto happily grabbed his chopsticks, but paused. He put his hand on his chin in a thinking pose for a moment, until his face popped with sudden realization. "Oh yeah! Are you two gonna order anything?"

"Good, Naruto, I thought I was going to have to remind you!" Ayame said cheerfully, then closed one eye and looked at Ino with the other, "there are just a few more things you need to learn about, right Ino?" to which Ino blushed slightly and picked up a menu.

"Yeah, give me a medium sized miso ramen." Ino said, and Ami followed with, "Me too."

A short amount of time later, Teuchi delivered three medium bowls of miso ramen, as Naruto had finished his bowl and asked for another. "So Naruto," Ino started, "do you remember ever saving a little girl from being kidnapped?"

Naruto's eyes clicked down to his right hand, staring at the large scar from where he was stabbed with a kunai. "Yeah. That's where this one came from." Naruto said happily, holding up his right hand, showing off his scar. His sleeve slipped down a little, and revealed several more scars that were hidden by his jacket. He quickly pulled his hand down, and fixed his sleeve. "Why do you ask?" he asked, then returned to his food.

"Well, we heard about it from the girl you saved, and we wanted to hear what you had to say," Ami said, and followed with, "It was Hinata, by the way."

"Really? It was Hinata? Well… that makes sense why her dad was there then." Naruto finished his bowl, asked for another, then continued.

"Well, I was having nightmares that night about foxes trying to eat me. I have them a lot… well, used to. I don't remember getting them recently… anyway, I had that nightmare that night and couldn't go back to sleep." Teuchi had finished making Naruto's bowl, and set it in front of him.

"I was walking around the village, not really doing anything, just wasting time, you know?" Naruto explained in-between bites of ramen, "Then I saw this dude sneakin' around, so I went to see what he was doing. Then I heard a little girl crying, and realized it was coming from his bag. I threw a rock and hit him in the head, then tackled him. He ended up stabbing me, but I held onto his leg until Hinata's dad came down… Hiushi?"

"Hiashi." Ami supplied as she finished her bowl, setting her chopsticks down on top of her bowl.

"Yeah, yeah, that's his name. So, he comes down and finishes the dude off. Then I went home, and that's it." Naruto finished his story, and bowl.

"She's really grateful you know, Hinata that is," Ino explained, finishing her own bowl and setting her chopsticks down as Ami had, "She told us about it, and she's really grateful. I don't know if that matters now, but she probably wouldn't be able to tell you."

"Yeah… it matters…" he said softly, looking down to his right hand as it rested on the counter, "but how come she can't tell me?"

"Uh… w-well…" Ino stuttered, but couldn't find a good lie.

"W-well, you now how she's real shy and all, right?" Ami offered quickly, "She has a hard time talking about things until she's comfortable. Also, she takes a while to get used to people, so don't worry if she seems like she doesn't get comfortable right away."

"Don't worry, I'm used to worse. As long as she doesn't try to kill me, she's fine by me." Naruto said cheerfully.

"Hey Naruto," Ayame asked as she finished washing own the counter, "you aren't going to order anymore?"

"Nah, I'm not really hungry today." Naruto said, stacking his three bowls and placing his chopsticks in them.

"Really?" Teuchi asked with a look of pure awe on his face. "In that case, five medium miso's come to 250 ryo."

"Well that wasn't too bad, I expected much worse." Ino said pushing her bowl towards the counter.

"What!" Teuchi said, quiet visibly upset, "Just 'cause my restaurant isn't all fancy, you think my food is gonna be bad!"

"Wha-what? No, I was talking about the bill." Ino said, after a moment of confusion, "I assumed it would've been worse the way you guys were talking."

"Sorry, Ino," Ayame said bowing slightly, "we had a customer the other day who said some nasty things, and he's been a little touchy about it since." After Ayame finished, she glared at her father, who then sunk into his clothes a little like a turtle, then gave an over exaggerated, but sincere apology to Ino.

"It's fine, 250 right?" Ino said pulling out some money from a little pig wallet, similar to Naruto's frog one. She handed it to Ayame, she was closer, and got up. "Alright lets go," Ino said and left the booth, and Ami followed a second after.

Naruto was about to leave as well, but Ayame called him. "Naruto," she said softly, and when he turned to her she continued, "that was very polite, not eating a lot. Next time you come back, I'll give you 2 free bowls, okay?"

Naruto's eyes lit up, and he was about to say something, when he heard Ami from outside, "Naruto! Come on, lets get going!"

He decide to just say "Thank you, Ayame-nee-chan!" with the worlds biggest grin. Ayame likes to reward him whenever he can remember his manners without encouragement.

"Where are we going next?" Ino asked as Naruto exited the booth.

"I thought you two just wanted to go to lunch?" Naruto asked curiously, but not suspiciously.

"No, we said we wanted to get to know you better, so we're going to hang out with you for the day," Ami said, then put on a mock verge-of-crying face, and added, "… unless… you don't like us…"

"Hmmm… well I was planning to go train after this," Naruto said after holding his chin in a thinking pose for a moment, "You two can come with me, if you want to. You don't have to train with me if you don't want, though."

"No, I think Ino will be just fine watching you. You know what I mean, right Ino?" Ami said with a sly grin on her face.

"Oh, you'll just watch? Okay, it's this way," Naruto said, and begun walking away from them.

Ino, after Naruto had turned his back, had punched Ami in the arm, and hissed, "Shut up, you pervert, it's not even like that!"

"What's wrong?" Naruto called from ahead of them, "Why aren't you moving?"

"Nothing's wrong! We're coming!" Ino called, giving Ami a parting glare, one she tried to imitate from watching Ayame's generous display of her frightening glare, and then they both jogged to catch up to him.

They walked for a few minutes, not really saying anything. They arrived at training ground 12. It was his teams training area, but he used it before to train; it was a huge coincidence that he got it again when he was assigned his team.

"Here we are. I think there are some places to sit over there," he said, pointing to a few stumps over at the other side of the opening. "I train for a while, maybe a few hours, so if you want to leave before I'm done, you can."

"It's fine, just do what you normally do!" Ino said as she approached the stumps. Naruto nodded, then created a clone and had him sit in the center.

"Okay," Naruto said to his clone, "you try and think of a cool new HENTAI jutsu while I train. If you think of anything good, tell me, okay?"

"Got it, boss!" the clone shouted, then entered a thinking pose.

Naruto then walked to an area that looked pretty worn out, and started doing push-ups.

"That's one of his clones?" Ami asked, pointing at the clone in the middle of the field, "The ones Tenten was talking about?"

"I guess so… what's it doing?" Ino asked curiously.

"I don't know, maybe its thinking?" Ami offered.

They shrugged, then looked back to Naruto. He finished his push-ups and started taking off his jacket, looked over to Ami and Ino, then put it back on.

"Huh?" Ino blurted after watching him zip his jacket back up, "Why's he keeping his jacket on?"

"Oh my god, Ino, keep it in your pants!" Ami said with a smile, then explained to a blushing Ino, "He probably has scars or something he doesn't want us to see. You notice in the ramen booth? He had scars all down his arm, covered by his sleeve, and he might be ashamed or embarrassed about them."

Naruto then jumped up to a tree branch and started doing pull-ups.

"But he showed us the one on his hand, and he didn't seem shy about that one." Ino added as she watched Naruto doing his exercises.

"Don't you remember? He seemed like he was proud of that one, so he probably will only show that to others." Ami explained.

They watched Naruto as he did around 70 pull-ups without slowing, and then he jumped down and started doing sit-ups. They watched quietly as he switched back and forth between the three exercises, never slowing down. After he finished his 4th set of sit-ups, he got up and started running around the field. Ami looked to Ino, and saw a hypnotized look on her face.

"…o...I.o…no…INO!" Ami shouted in her friends hear. Ino jolted up on the stump they sat on about half a foot.

"Wh-What! What are you yelling for?" Ino hollered at her stump buddy.

"I'm yelling because you don't hear if I don't! And wipe the drool off your chin, Ino, you look like a fool." Ami said, and watched as Ino embarrassedly wiped the drool off her mouth and chin. "Seriously Ino, what's wrong with you? You're acting like a pig in heat. You're even leaking down there."

"Wha-what? You can tell?" Ino whisper shouted with a bright pink blush.

"Of course I couldn't tell! But now I know. That's… wow, though… really?" Ami asked with a strange look on her face. "I wonder if Naruto would be able to smell you… you think? Him having a really good nose and all."

They both turned and just watched Naruto, when, as if on cue, a wind blew by them towards Naruto. Naruto was jogging for a few seconds after the wind, when he stopped moving and looked towards them. He just stared for a moment before blushing, and returning to his jog, moving a little faster than before.

Ino blushed almost as deep as Hinata had when she was at the meeting the other night, but she said nothing. "Oh… it looks like he really can smell you." Ami commented with a strange smile.

Ami and Ino were awkwardly quiet the rest of the time as Naruto finished his last couple of laps. When Naruto finished, he walked up to his clone and sad something to it. It shook it's head, then he dispelled it. He walked up to them, holding his stomach awkwardly. "Well, that's all for my training. I normally do a bit more, then some taijutsu, but I'm feeling strange so I'm gonna go home."

"You feel strange?" Ino asked with concern in her voice, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know… it almost feels like I'm sick, and my stomach's burning. I think I should go home and lie down for a little bit." Naruto said, clenching his hand on his stomach a little.

"Okay, well… I guess we'll see you around." Ino said, smiling at Naruto.

"Oh, and if you guys ever need to find me again, I always go to Ichiraku's at around 10, then train here. Everything else is always different, or I might have a mission, but you can usually find me at these two places."

"Okay Naruto, I'll probably come see you tomorrow." Ino said, blushing a little more and smiling.

"Alright then, see you later," Naruto said, then headed towards the city. He scaled a building, then leapt out of sight.

"Seriously Ino, are you on drugs or something? What's with the sudden wanting to jump Naruto's bone thing your doing?" Ami asked Ino, but realized she wasn't listening, just looking longingly at the area Naruto jumped off to.

Ami made an exasperated sigh, then grabbed Ino and dragged her off.

"Wow," a voice from the woods spoke, "Ku-nee-chan's gonna love this!"

Anko stepped from a tree after they all had left. She had been walking down to her favorite dango shop when she over heard a teenage girl mention Naruto's name in the street. It was still early, so there were very few people there, and only two of them had the voices of teenage girls. She bugged them with a small communicator, then listened as she got her dango. When she ordered her dango, a little more than usual, she begun tailing the girls.

She had heard them talking about getting to talk to Naruto, and she would've stopped them if they mentioned and wrong doing, but none was mentioned. She watched and listened from their meeting, up until they left, not ever taking her eyes or ears off them. She had even followed them into the ramen shop. She was also the cause of the all too perfectly timed gust of wind that took Ino's scent to Naruto. A fairly simple and easy jutsu was to blame.

"Oh, she's really gonna love this. She knows how to pick 'em," Anko said, then decided to follow Ino to see if anything else happened with her.

* * *

Naruto arrived at his house, and collapsed to his knees, clutching his stomach. He struggled to get his jacket and black undershirt off. He looked at his stomach, and saw a spiral seal glowing around his naval. He managed to get up, making it to his sink. He turned the faucet on, and tried to drink some water, but passed out and fell to the floor.

Naruto opened his eyes in a dimly lit sewer-type area. He sat up and looked around. He was sitting in water, water with a reddish hue, but for some reason wasn't wet. It was water, but he couldn't feel it. No, that's wrong… he could feel it, but it was like feeling something that wasn't there. Almost like feeling something in a genjutsu, only more real, without actually believing it was real.

He was lost in thought, trying to understand where he was and why, when he herd a low growl coming from one of the tunnels. He felt captivated by the sound. He got up and walked towards the source of the growl. He reached a large room, with a giant cage. The cage reached up towards the ceiling, which he couldn't see. Two monstrous sized eyes opened from beyond the cage. They looked down to him, then a giant row of teeth appeared.

"So, I am finally awake, am I?" the Cheshire cat looking face said sleepily, his voice echoing through the large room.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Naruto asked the low floating face.

"Your village has dubbed me 'The Kyuubi No Kitsune'. I guess you can call me that, if you'd like. And you are inside your mind. My awakening must have dragged you here." Kyuubi explained.

"Kyuubi? Okay, but why have I never seen you before? Haven't you been here my whole life? Why now?" Naruto questioned.

"Well… I'd assume that you body is now capable of width standing my full presence." Kyuubi explained, still sounding a little sleepy, "The seal must have kept my consciousness locked away until your body was mature enough to handle it."

"Oh… that makes sense. Well, why are you being so friendly? Aren't you supposed to be all evil and stuff?" Naruto asked, a little confused.

"No, of course not. I just got a little drunk the night I attacked your village." Kyuubi explained, fully awake now, "now could you do me a favor? You see this little paper on here? Well, because of this thing, I'm in quiet a bit of pain. Would you mind taking it off?"

"Alright." Naruto said and walked up to the cage and reached for the paper, when he paused. He just stared at the floating eyes in the cage, and then felt a chill run down his spine. "Actually, on second thought, I'm gonna leave it—" was all Naruto got out before a deafening roar echoed through the room.

"GRAAAAAAH! I'LL EAT YOU, YOU BASTARD!" he roared through the cage, snapped at the bars and tried to pierce it with claws only now visible. Naruto fell backwards, scrambling backwards, trying to get away from the cage.

Kyuubi thrashed around in the cage for a minute, before calming down, and addressing Naruto again. "Hey kid, I'm tired of looking at your face, get away from me."

"I don't know ho—" was all Naruto got out before he woke up on the floor of the kitchen, in a thin sheet of cold sweat. It was night outside. Naruto had been out for several hours. Naruto looked at his clock, and could make out that it was 10 PM.

Naruto looked at his stomach, and the mark was gone. He grabbed at where it once was, and the got up. He changed into his pajamas, and then went to sleep. He had to be up early tomorrow.

Author's box

* * *

I think I'm starting to hate Ino. She keeps worming her way into all my ideas. I don't know why she does, but she just fits every where I look. I love her character and design, but she won't go away. My last story too, she wasn't even really supposed to be in that one. I also wanted to make this one longer, but I hadn't been able to write a lot this last week, so I figured I would just put this up. I also couldn't think of a way to extend it without doing another 10-15 pages, and that would take like another week. i wouldn't be able to go that long without a new review. Please review, your reviews are like giving my inner author a phoenix down (Final Fantasy revival item, for those who don't know). I didn't really feel like fancying this one up, so if it feels bland or whatever compared to the last chapter, that's why... Not because of my incompetence as a writer... Yeah… 


	3. 03 Power Up

I used to own Naruto, but I lost the rights in a poker game… along with my clothes… I have gambling issues…

Sorry to all of my loyal and adoring fans (who am I kidding?) for waiting for this chapter. You don't know this, but my computer was incapacitated for the past 3 weeks. I only just got it back a few days ago. And to all of my fans (Both of you), please enjoy this chapter.

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

Naruto was in his bed, asleep, for the entire night. He was in a continuous, but troubled and seemingly painful sleep. He was sitting in soaked sheets when he woke up. After a few moments, he realized that sound was coming from his mouth, but it sounded very far away. Had he been saying something…? He blinked a few times, then placed his hand on his throat.

* * *

It was sore. He had been screaming in his sleep towards the end, and as he woke. He was screaming something, inaudibly to himself, quite loudly. He made no movement for several minutes, trying to relax himself, until he looked over to his clock. It was 6:30 in the morning. He had very little time to get to his team, but luckily, training ground 12 was only a minute or two away if you moved quickly across the roofs.

He had to take a shower above all, his nose reminded him, as he hadn't washed since yesterday morning. He had worked out in his jacket the other day as he didn't like to show people his scars, then had passed out in the kitchen and sweated quite a bit there as well as later in his bed.

He stood up and headed to his bathroom, grabbing clothes from off the floor. They stank a little bit, but there was nothing he could do about that.

He got into the bathroom and turned the shower on, then sat down on his toilet and waited for the shower to heat up a bit.

He placed the outfit on his sink, looked at his broken reflection in his mirror for a moment. his mirror is broken, fractured with a few pieces of glass missing here and there (sorry I didn't describe it last chapter). He then stripped his pajamas and entered the shower.

He washed himself, dried himself, clothed, then got out. He had been in the shower for almost 25 minutes, he realized as he checked the time.

He made and ate cereal hurriedly, not wasting anymore time, grabbed his hitai-ite and ninja tools, then left his apartment. He shut the door behind him, then started towards training ground 12.

* * *

Naruto made it there 10 minutes later, sweating and out of breath. He saw Sakura and Hinata talking about something, Anko playing with a kunai, and Kurenai sitting on a stump reading a book.

When he arrived, he was verbally assaulted by Sakura. "You're late, Naruto! Where have you been!" Sakura hollered at the winded blonde while walking towards him.

"Sor-sorry, *pant* Sakura-chan.*pant*" Naruto apologized. His hands were on his knees and he was doubled over slightly, trying to catch his breath.

Hinata was watching from afar, only a little closer to Naruto than when he arrived. Kurenai, along with Anko, had made it to Naruto by this point. "Why are you late, Naruto?" Kurenai asked in the authoritative tone of a teacher.

Naruto took a deep breath, and attempted to force his body to normal. It worked surprisingly well considering his state, so he answered. "I wasn't feeling well,*pant* and almost overslept." Naruto replied, straightening up and unconsciously clutching at his stomach.

Kurenai could feel a small amount of demonic chakra seeping from Naruto, chakra that wasn't there the day before. She had been told that Naruto might undergo some difficulties soon after she received him, as his seal would be opening slightly and releasing more chakra into him. This was obviously affecting him, and he had no control over it.

"That's fine." Kurenai said, looking at Anko for a second and nodding, "Go sit down and relax. When you feel better, we will begin today's training. After we teach you the basic routine we will follow for exercises, we will go pick up your first mission."

"Th-thank you, sensei." Naruto said in an unenthusiastic, but grateful tone. Naruto would have normally been excited about getting his first mission, but he didn't have enough energy to exert. He stumbled over to a patch of grass a few feet away, and fell into it.

Sakura looked to Hinata questioningly, who looked back, then to Kurenai and Anko. "Why are we waiting even longer? And why did you let him off just like's that?" Sakura asked, unable to comprehend the 'why's' of the situation.

"This is important, Sakura," Kurenai explained, "but I can't tell you why. It's Naruto's personal business, but his body is going through a pretty intense change right now. He won't be right for a little bit, but he will still be able to participate with a little break here and there."

"…Well…" Sakura started hesitantly after a moment, "if you say it's all right, then I guess its fine," then went back to where she was sitting with Hinata. Hinata had also found her way back to where they were previously talking, and was shifting around nervously while stealing glances at the collapsed blonde.

"Hey." Sakura said as she approached, and watched Hinata jump a little, who apparently hadn't noticed her arrival. "What do you think, Hinata? Do you know why he's weird today?"

"U-um…" Hinata started, looking back over to Naruto and pulling at her sleeves a bit, "h-he's acting… strange."

Sakura sighed. "Way to look underneath the underneath, Hinata," she commented sarcastically

Hinata had no other way to describe his behavior. He wasn't really acting unlike himself, just extremely exhausted, which she had never seen before. He was always over flowing with energy.

She was sure he would be fine, that he just needed some rest, but she could feel something was wrong. She looked back towards Naruto, and saw his face contort in pain. "N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata whisper-shouted and Sakura snapped her head up to look at Hinata.

* * *

"Way to look underneath the underneath, Hinata." Sakura said sarcastically at Hinata's answer, then decided to figure out what was wrong on her own.

Had he been attacked by villagers…? Maybe. Even though she didn't entirely believe he was treated as bad as Hinata and Kurenai-sensei said, it could explain his odd behavior. If he was attacked on his way here, It might explain his lack of energy and tardiness. Her thought process was stopped short by a soft shout of "N-Naruto-kun!" made by Hinata.

She snapped her head up to look at Hinata, who was staring away from her. She followed Hinata's gaze to the collapsed blonde. He was tightening up in pain, grabbing his stomach with both arms, and bringing his knees up towards his body.

Hinata got up and rushed towards Naruto, and Sakura called to her senseis, "Something's wrong with Naruto!" Kurenai and Anko looked up from their book and kunai, respectively, and headed to Naruto.

Sakura made it to Naruto behind Hinata, and crouched down beside her. "What's wrong with him? Is he all right?" Sakura asked the kneeling Hyuuga.

"U-um… I…" Hinata mumbled, nervously fidgeting over Naruto. She had no idea how to help the person she cared about more than anything.

"Use your byakugan to check him, make sure he's okay! He might have broken bones or something." Sakura said assertively, a little upset Hinata had not already done so.

"O-oh yeah!" Hinata mumbled with sudden enlightenment, just remembering she had a Kekki Genkai. She had been so worried about Naruto that she forgot. She activated her byakugan with a few popping veins around her eyes.

She examined Naruto's bones and organs first to find out what was wrong. They all were fine. She moved on to his chakra network, then she noticed there was red chakra pouring out of a strange chakra formation on his stomach.

She had never seen red chakra before; everyone normally had the same shade of blue. She had seen some people who had different shades of blue, rarely though, but never a different color. He still had blue chakra everywhere else, and all of it was reacting violently to something. His chakra network was shaking, and his chakra was surging violently through the network.

"What's it look like, Hinata?" Sakura asked, as she was starting to get worried watching Naruto shake and sweat.

"His chakra is probably all messed up, right Hinata?" Anko offered from behind them. Sakura jumped a little, as she had forgotten they were there. Hinata could see them with her byakugan, so she wasn't surprised.

"Y-yeah, it's… W-what's happening to him?" Hinata asked worriedly, looking up to Anko and Kurenai.

"These are the intense changes I mentioned earlier," Kurenai said, looking down to Hinata, "I just didn't expect them to be this intense."

"Hurgh!" Naruto grunted, and a heat wave crashed over them from Naruto.

"WH-what?" Sakura exclaimed, backing away and closing her eyes. Hinata had seen a build-up of chakra a split second before the heat hit them, and she closed her eyes. Anko and Kurenai were surprised at the sudden heat burst, and not knowing what could happen, they grabbed Hinata and Sakura, and moved a considerable distance back.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted, and tried to get to him.

Kurenai stopped her, placing a restraining hand on her shoulder. "No, Hinata, we don't know what's going to happen. This is a safe spot."

"I know that!" Hinata snapped with a similar ferocity in her voice to the look she gave Anko before their survival test the other day, "You don't know what's going to happen, but you'll just leave him there?"

"Hinata, you can see his chakra," Anko said, stepping in front of her, "you already know that he is the cause of it. Anything you do will be useless. We just have to wait until it's done."

Hinata turned a fierce stare on Anko, but after a moment, it faltered and she faded back into the timid and meek Hinata. "So… there's nothing we can do?" Sakura asked, looking at Naruto as he writhed in pain.

"There's not much anyone could do." Anko said, and turned to watch him as well.

A few seconds passed, and then the grass around him started to catch on fire. "Whoa!" Anko gasped, taking a step back as heat started to lick at her face, "Are you sure he's gonna be okay, sis?"

"Yeah, he should be fine. This is perfectly natural… well, for him." Kurenai stated, taking a step back as well, along with Sakura. Hinata stayed where she was, however, either not noticing or not caring about the increase in temperature.

All of the grass within 4 feet of him had burnt up, and all the grass in a 10-foot radius of him was on fire. A few seconds after that, his clothes set on fire. "Naruto!" "Naruto-kun!" Sakura and Hinata shouted simultaneous. Hinata tried to rush forward again, but was held in place by Kurenai.

"Uh, sis?" Anko asked, starting to get nervous.

"It's almost over. Hokage-sama said it shouldn't last more than a minute," Kurenai explained, while getting equally nervous, "And he's not screaming in pain, so maybe it can't hurt him?" she added, sounding unsure of her self.

After burning for a few seconds, the heat dissipated, and all grass fires were extinguished. This left a field of burnt to nothing dirt or brunt to barely anything grass, and a still burning Naruto.

The four of them rushed to help him, afraid he might burn to death, but as they got within 5 feet of Naruto, the flames died, and revealed a very naked Naruto.

Both teens turned red and squeaked in embarrassment, then covered their face with their hands. Hinata, the redder of the two, squeaked again for she had forgotten to turn off her byakugan. She turned it off immediately, but she could still see him (In her mind), and kept getting redder and squeaking every so often.

Sakura had closed off her view off Naruto with her hands, but after a few seconds two of her fingers separated slightly so she could see. She got really red, then closed her fingers again almost immediately.

Anko and Kurenai had watched them for the entire time, then looked to each other and laughed. Hard. They would have normally ignored the girls' antics, and tended to Naruto, but he had no burns, so Kurenai earlier speculation must have been right.

After their laughter died down, Anko walked towards Naruto and hoisted him up on her shoulder in a fireman's carry, and turned to the two teens. "Alright girls," Anko sterted, and both girls looked through their fingers at Anko, "I'm gonna go and have some fun with Naruto-kun. Make sure you all stay here and be good little girls, okay?" Anko said, and slapped one of his butt checks.

All the color drained from their faces and their hands dropped as they jaw-dropped at the perverted smile wearing Jounin carrying the unconscious birthday-suit wearing Genin. "W-WH-WHAT!" Sakura shouted. Hinata, on the other hand, once her brain put together what Anko was planning to do with her Naruto, sprung into action.

Hinata attacked with all the chakra she could muster, but Anko jumped backwards, laughing perversely as she fled. She turned and ran away at a speed Hinata could not hope to catch, and was out of sight in seconds.

"It's okay Hinata, she was just kidding. She just wants to mess with you…." Kurenai tried to console, then paused and looked worried for a moment and said, "…I think…"

"That's not even the way to Naruto's apartment!" Hinata hollered furiously, and pointed in the opposite direction, "He lives that way!"

"Anko? You're not gonna…" Kurenai said, and looked worriedly off in the direction Anko went.

* * *

Anko had arrived on the roof of a small building, and laid Naruto down. She looked around to make sure no one was watching, and then put up a genjutsu so no one would see what was on the roof.

She looked around again, then used the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and created two clones. "You know what to do, get to it," she ordered, and jumped down into the street.

She turned around, and entered the building she jumped from. It was a clothing store. She browsed around and found the area with the clothes around Naruto's size. She didn't know his exact size, so she got the biggest outfit that could reasonably be guessed to fit him.

She grabbed pants, a shirt, a jacket, ninja sandals, a bag of underwear, a belt, and a ninja tool bag. She knew that what he wore was basically it for clothes because while she was still excited about becoming a sensei, she sort of broke into his place and checked out his stuff. So she grabbed something to replace everything he had on.

She brought all she got to the counter, and paid the friendly clerk for the clothes while he bagged them. She aimed a little killing intent at him, thinking of how if she was Naruto, how differently he would be acting. Or even if he knew the clothes were for Naruto. He backed up, looking like he just shit himself, and she walked away with a lighthearted smile on her face.

She jumped up onto the roof and saw the two clones standing protectively over Naruto. They saw her but kept on guard. "Good work." She said, then released the clones. She set the bag down beside her, and sat on the floor (or should I say roof?).

She just stared at Naruto, watching his chest rise and fall peacefully, and smiling a little as his nose twitch every so often. She then started looking at the scars of varying sizes scattered over his body. She was starting to get angry, so she decided to bring him home and wait there. She carefully picked him up and slung him over her right shoulder, grabbed the clothes she bought, and headed to his home.

* * *

Naruto woke up feeling great, despite how he remembered feeling before he blacked out. He figured he would feel better when he woke up, but he has never felt this good. He sat up from and moved to get out of bed, when he stopped.

'Bed? Home? How did…' he thought, when he looked down and saw his naked body sitting on the side of his bed.

"Would you like an explanation?" Anko asked from his doorway.

Naruto just stared at her for a moment, then blushed and grabbed his pillow and used it as a crotch-cover. "What are you doing in my house? Why am I naked? …Did... did you really take my dignity?" Naruto shouted at her, sounding more afraid than anything.

Anko just laughed a hearty laugh, then said, "No, no, nothing like that. I don't think doing just that takes someone's dignity." She liked watching people squirm uncomfortably, and she was having a good time.

"What do you mean 'just that'? What did you do!" Naruto shouted uneasily.

"I just carried you naked through town, nothing really bad. Anyway, what's the last thing you remember?"

Naruto was confused, and was about to comment on the 'carried you naked through town' thing, but stopped when her face turned serious. "L-last thing I remember? Hmm… I got to our training area late… and then I laid down… I remember being in a lot of pain, and that's it."

Anko nodded her head. "The seal on your stomach, it opened up a little bit yesterday. You were in pain from the extra chakra entering you chakra network. The reason why you have no clothes is because while it was opening everything around you set on fire. Including your clothes. I know you don't have many clothes, so I went and bought you a new set of everything you had. Tried to get something similar to you other outfit, but that was the closest they had."

Anko pointed to the bag beside his bed that had the new clothes in it. He looked down to them, then back to her when he absorbed everything she just said. "You got me clothes…? How? I didn't have Gama-chan with me…"

"I bought them for you. It would be weird if you show up to our missions with nothing on. Besides, they aren't free." Anko said, and Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Anko got a little angry when she saw him be relieved that someone wasn't just doing something for him to be nice. "Yeah, when we get back to everyone, you can't say anything after I tell them I had my way with you."

Naruto still had a slight smile of relief on his face as he went over what she just said a few times, then his face turned bright red. "WHAT! But that would make them think…"

"I know. I want to see their faces when you don't deny it. Then after I'm satisfied, I'll let you know, and we'll tell them the truth. Deal?" Anko said, and waited for him to agree. "I don't think showing up naked will help your case, either. Come on, what do you say?"

Naruto was silent, but after thinking it over, he nodded his agreement. "Okay, I'll let you get dressed. Come see me outside when you're ready to go." Anko said, and walked out of his room, and eventually out of his apartment.

He got up, still with his crotch cover, and emptied the bag on his bed. He saw the bag of underwear, opened it, and put a pair on. He sighed, and then threw the pillow back onto the bed.

His eyes had found their way to the new set off clothes Anko had bought him. She said she was unable to find another set exactly like his previous outfit, but he kind of liked this set. This one had the same design, but with an entirely different color scheme.

They were dark red, closer to orange than anything else he was allowed to buy after they realized he liked that color, with a gray neck thing (the weird white part that normally covers his neck), with black coming up to his elbows and knees on the legs and arms. A black stripe also went down his zipper, about 3 inches wide, and a black ring surrounding his neckpiece thing the same size as the zipper stripe. The ninja tool pack was the same gray as his neckpiece, and so were his sandals. The belt was black, and there was also a black undershirt exactly the same as the one he had before.

He got dressed, then went into the bathroom to see how he looked. It looked really good, actually, and it was really comfortable. He smiled to himself, and thought, 'Is this what family feels like?' but dismissed the thought. He couldn't allow himself to get attached that easily.

He walked out of the bathroom, and checked his clock. It was almost eight in the morning. He had only been unconscious for half an hour or so, and still had the whole day ahead of him. Team training, and his first mission assignment, and he felt great! He walked out of the bathroom, grabbed Gama-chan from his bedroom, and then headed to the front door.

He opened the door, and looked to Anko with a smile. "Thank you, Anko-sensei. I'm ready to go now."

Anko blushed a little, turning away from the newly outfitted blonde. "Y-yeah, let's get going. Everyone's worried." She glanced back at him for an instant, then started down the stairs to the street below.

'Ohhhhhh, sensei! Sensei, sensei, sensei! He really called me sensei! SENSEI!' Anko thought to her self with glee as she glided down the steps.

Naruto cocked his head to the side for a moment at her strange behavior, but followed without a word.

* * *

Naruto and Anko arrived at the training ground a few minutes later, and saw Kurenai reading a book, Sakura looking around nervously, and Hinata pacing back and forth making a worn out path in the grass.

"HEY! Everybody, we're back!" Anko shouted, and all three looked over to them.

Sakura and Hinata rushed over to them. "Naruto! Are you okay? After you set on fire… did she…" Sakura questioned, then glared at Anko. Hinata had been glaring at Anko the entire time, however. Waiting for an opening no doubt.

Anko smiled wide and said, "What's with the mean faces? It's not like Naruto didn't enjoy it!" Anko said in a sexy voice, then leaned over him and whispered in his ear, "Isn't that right?" in an equally sexy voice.

Sakura was about to explode at the purple-haired shota-kon about being a pedophile, and how she should be arrested, while our favorite Hyuuga was about to forcibly remove snake temptress from Naruto's shoulder, when something they never expected happened. Naruto blushed deeply, hearing her voice and imagining what she was implying, and turned his face away from them.

Sakura's and Hinata's jaws dropped as they watched the blonde blush and not deny anything she was saying. Hinata lost all of her fight and just stayed there, unblinking and unmoving. Sakura stood dazed for a moment, then sputtered into awareness. "You… you're kidding… right, Naruto? A-after… while we we're so worried… you…" Sakura tried in fractured sentences, starting to shake with anger.

Kurenai stepped forward, placing a hand on the trembling pinkette's shoulder. "Anko, you didn't really do anything, did you?" she asked, honestly unsure as to what the slightly unstable Jounin would think was acceptable. Anko looked at her for a moment, before she started to tremble. "Anko?" Kurenai asked, worried she might have lost her mind.

"BWAAAAHAHAHAHA!" Anko laughed maniacally, holding her stomach and arching backwards so she was facing the sky. She laughed for a moment, before falling backwards, and ROFLing. Naruto figured she was satisfied now, and decided to fill everyone in.

"Don't worry, nothing happened," Naruto explained, elevating his voice over Anko's laughter, "she said she wanted to see the looks on your faces or something, so she told me not to deny anything she said." He stopped and looked down at the choking-on-air Jounin. "But, yeah," he started again, looking back to his teammates, "she just got me clothes cause my other ones burned or something."

"Oh, that's why she went that way." Kurenai said, then pointed to the burnt area of the field, "I'll assume she explained what happened, but you were over there."

Naruto turned and faced where she was pointing, and saw the scorched earth. "Whoa," he whispered walking towards the spot.

Sakura had gotten over the whole Anko thing by now, and addressed the investigating blonde. "Hey Naruto."

Naruto turned to her, "Yeah, Sakura-chan?"

She looked him up and down. "Are those the clothes Anko-sensei picked out? They look really good on you, and the colors are much better than the orange and blue you had before."

Naruto frowned. "These clothes are pretty cool, but I like orange."

Sakura scoffed. "Yeah, but it's not a color a ninja should really wear. It's like screaming 'hear I am, come kill me!' right? …what was your obsession with that color anyway?" and Naruto remained silent. Sakura figured he wasn't going to say anything, but before she could say anything else he answered her.

"They… I wear orange for just that reason. It helps me… helps to prove my existence. Its like, I… sometimes I'm not sure if I'm even alive. Maybe I don't exist, but every time… every time someone attacks me or yells at me… I can feel that I'm still alive, you know?"

Hinata had been broken free of her petrifaction shortly after Sakura, and had been listening from when Sakura mentioned his clothes. She could feel her chest tighten as Naruto explained his affinity to orange. 'o-oh, Naruto-kun…' she thought to her self and could feel her eyes water a bit.

Sakura had nothing to say, and her own chest tightening slightly as well. She shouldn't have asked him about it. She looked to his face; he was smiling. Was he smiling at her, or because it didn't bother him? Does he enjoy remembering being hurt? She couldn't understand his smile, but smiled back anyway.

Anko was standing now, she had stopped laughing around when Sakura started the conversation with Naruto, and her fists were clenched. She was trembling as well, just imagining what she would do to anyone she caught trying to hurt Naruto. A hand fell on her shoulder, and her head snapped in its direction. Moist eyes met crimson ones, as Kurenai tried to console her normally light hearted sister.

"Well, aren't we gonna do some exercises or something, then go do our mission?" Naruto asked, unaware of how his words had affected everyone.

"Yeah," Kurenai spoke up from next to Anko, then made her way to where Naruto was so no one would notice Anko's condition, "but we will skip the training today because the incident earlier took up too much time. If you feel up to it though, we can still go get a mission."

"Hell yeah I'm up to it!" Naruto hollered, "Let's do it, our first mission!"

* * *

"Dammit, I hate that cat." Naruto said after exiting Hokage tower with Hinata, Sakura, and Kurenai two hours after accepting the mission. They were on a mission from the fire daimyo's wife to catch her cat. They found it really quickly due to Hinata's byakugan, but it was very good at escaping. And scratching, Naruto grudgingly reminded himself.

They saw Anko waiting outside the gate for them, and headed towards her. "I wish I could have gone with you guys. That looked fun!" she exclaimed teasingly.

"If fun is the word for pain-in-the-ass-cat, then yes, it was fun." Naruto muttered, stretching out a little.

"Okay, is every up for something to eat?" Kurenai asked, looking to her students for a response.

"I am," Sakura said, followed by Naruto's, "Ramen!" and Hinata's, "u-um…a l-little bit."

Anko's face lit up, as this was finally her chance to take them for dango. She was absorbed into the thought of taking them for dango for a little too long, as by the time she decided to jump on the chance, Ichiraku's ramen had been decided on.

"What?" Anko gasped out as they stated walking towards Ichiraku's. Kurenai turned to look at her with a smile.

"Too slow, Anko. Maybe next time," she told her, then continued walking. Anko stood there for a moment, then drooped her head and followed them.

* * *

They arrived at Ichiraku's shortly after. Naruto walked into the booth with a big smile, greeting Ayame and Teuchi, who were behind the counter, with a large grin. "Good morning Ayame-nee-chan, Oji-san!" he said happily as he took a seat, "I brought you guys some more customers today! They're my teammates!"

'A-ayame-nee-chan? Oji-san?' Hinata thought to her self as she entered the booth, 'I have only heard him use honorifics with Hokage-sama, Iruka-sensei, Sakura, and just recently Anko-sensei.' She knew he went here all the time, but never had the courage to go in while he was there. Not even while he wasn't there, for that matter.

"Good morning Naruto. Now what?" Ayame asked, looking at Naruto with expectation.

"Introductions… right?" he offered, slightly unsure, but Ayame nodded. "Okay! Everyone, this is Ayame-nee-chan," he turned to his teammates, leaning against the counter and pointing to Ayame, then switched his finger to Teuchi, "and this Teuchi-oji-san." He then spun towards the counter. "And with me, its Sakura-chan, Anko-sensei," he said pointing to his left. Anko was sitting farthest away, and Sakura was next to him, "and that's Hinata, and Kurenai." Hinata was right next to him, and Kurenai on his far right.

'He said it again! Sensei!' Anko thought, expertly keeping her giddiness out of sight.

"Wow Naruto, so many cute girls!" Teuchi said with a pervy old man grin, "The two yesterday too. Mature ones today… keep this up, and you'll give this old man a heart attack!"

'Ino and Ami,' Kurenai thought to herself, ignoring the older man's drooling.

'T-the two yesterday?' Hinata thought to herself, 'Did… did he m-meet someone yesterday?'

"Two yesterday?" Sakura asked, confused as to which two females in all of Konoha would do anything with him, besides those in this booth, "Who was here yesterday?"

"Ino-chan and Ami-chan, I believe," Ayame answered, "They seemed real nice and friendly, especially that Ino girl." Ayame smiled a little, then started getting bowls ready.

"Wh-what do you mean especially Ino?" Sakura asked, afraid of the answer for some reason.

"Yeah, she was asking me a bunch of questions and stuff, you know? They hung out with me for a few hours yesterday," Naruto explained, looking at Sakura with an oblivious expression, "but my stomach was hurting, like this morning, so I went home."

"Oh…" Hinata softly said, getting a little depressed that she couldn't even talk to him right now. At this rate, he might get taken before she can works up the courage.

"So, when did you get those clothes Naruto? They look good on you," Ayame said, peeking over the counter to get a better look of his new outfit.

"Oh yeah. All my clothes burned off, so Anko-sensei brought me to get some new ones." Naruto said, then looked down at his clothes and smiled. He was really getting to like this outfit.

"…What?" Ayame asked after a moment, then looked to his sensei's for further explanation.

"Strange as it sounds, that's exactly what happened." Kurenai said shaking her head.

"I'm hungry, let's order something!" Naruto said. He was about to order a large ramen bowl, but heard something outside. "Sasuke?" Naruto said, and turned his head to face outside the booth. The flap on the entrance to the booth was in the way, so he couldn't see out, but he knew he heard him.

"Sasuke-kun? Where!" Sakura shouted, whipping her head around. Naruto got up and left the booth. He looked to his right, and saw Sasuke, Neji, and Rock Lee walking down the street.

Sasuke noticed Naruto, and a disgusted expression crept onto his face. Sasuke kept walking towards him, never blinking. When he got close, he stopped. Neji and Lee looked to Sasuke, than to Naruto. "Hey Sasuke-kun!" Sakura greeted cheerfully, holding her hands folded beneath her chin with her arms against her body.

She was completely ignored by Sasuke, however, and she lost her cheerful disposition "What's wrong, not gonna answer her, Sasuke-chan?" Naruto said, grinning and put his hands behind his head and relaxed.

Sasuke's fist tightened, and he ground his teeth as he activated his glaringan (made up name, with no abilities, for the intense stare Sasuke is giving). "What did you say?" Sasuke spat venomously.

Naruto smiled and said, "What happened to 'the loser has no right to complain'? Isn't that what you always told me?" Naruto was trying to start a fight with Sasuke, because he still wanted to beat him in front of Sakura. Naruto went to say something else, but stopped and looked behind him.

He saw Hinata hiding behind her arms; she had both up to her mouth, and was looking down, like a scared or threatened dog might do. He looked forward and saw Neji glaring at her like he wanted to kill her. Naruto stepped sideways in front of Hinata, and glared back at him with a greater intensity than anything any Genin there knew.

Neji faltered as an enormous amount of killing intent crashed on him from Naruto. That was the first time Neji ever felt pure fear. Not being scared of something, like of Hiashi activating his curse seal, but pure terror. The kind of fear that makes you shit your pants and want to run away.

Sasuke also felt a great deal of this pressure, and faltered slightly as well. 'w-what?' Sasuke thought angrily to himself. Hinata, Sakura, Kurenai, Anko, and Lee were unaffected by any of it. They could feel the intensity of it, but weren't it's target. It was like, from a safe distance, watching a nuclear bomb go off. You get the wow factor without the holy-shit-i'm-dead factor.

Hinata was sporting a sizable blush after she realized how Naruto was staring down Neji. For her. He was standing up for her… even though she had never done the same for him (Hinata doesn't count the time in the fist chapter at the kunoichi meeting).

Sakura was a little upset that Sasuke wasn't responding to or even acknowledging what she said. He would normally look at her for a moment, maybe grunt, than continue what he was doing. She was not used to him ignoring her. She was caught up in that up until she felt the dangerous aura Naruto was letting off. She would of said something, but when she realized he was defending Hinata, she backed off.

Anko and Kurenai were surprised that that much murderous intent could be released by Naruto, or anyone without intense training for that matter, but Anko felt proud. 'Teach him who's boss, Naruto!' she thought, then smiled a little.

Neji tried to right himself and say something, but he couldn't regain his composure under Naruto's murderous gaze. His voice was caught in his throat and he wanted to look away or blink, but Naruto's eyes forced him to keep looking somehow. Sasuke, possibly mad at being ignored, threw a kunai at the side of Naruto's head. Naruto moved his head and body backwards and dodged it completely, but his eyes never left Neji's.

Naruto kept his eyes on Neji for a moment longer, and then switched back to Sasuke. "What do you want?" Naruto said dangerously.

Sasuke was more pissed off than he had ever been at anyone, excluding Itachi. "Fight me. You won't get lucky this time with a sneak attack."

"Fine, do you want me to crush you here, or somewhere else?" Naruto asked, feeling extremely confident of him self. Truth be told, Naruto hadn't gotten that much stronger from the new chakra he had got earlier that morning. He felt invincible, but that murderous intent wasn't anything new. It had festered in him his whole life, but the only other time he aimed it at anyone was when Mizuki was trying to kill Iruka. Now, unless Sasuke attacked any of his teammates or precious people, Naruto was still weaker.

Sasuke recomposed himself, then pulled out a kunai. "Don't feel like waiting to shut your mouth for good."

Naruto turned to Sakura and grinned. "Watch me, Sakura-chan! I'll show you what I can do!"

Sakura frowned. "Naruto… don't push too hard. Sasuke-kun looks angry, he might really hurt you this time…" she said nervously. She always roots for Sasuke, but she didn't want Naruto to actually get hurt.

"I'll be fine, Sakura-chan! Just watch me." Naruto said, and turned back to Sasuke. "Alright Sasuke-chan, when you're ready." he said, and everyone excluding Sasuke and Naruto jumped up to a nearby roof. "Oh, you aren't fighting with your teammates? I thought you wanted to win sa~su~ke~Cha~n~?" Naruto taunted, dragging out his name as aggravatingly as possible.

"I hope you said goodbye to Sakura, I wouldn't want you to have any lingering attachments to this world," Sasuke responded with a malicious looking smile on his face.

Naruto smiled back, and threw a smoke bomb down. Naruto, while covered in smoke, shouted "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Two Narutos ran out though the sides of the smokescreen, and charged at Sasuke from opposing sides. When they started to get close, a third Naruto jumped from the top of the smoke at Sasuke, and threw an explosive tagged kunai behind him. as soon as Sasuke switched his attention to the aerial Naruto, a kunai flew from the smoke at Sasuke.

Sasuke chuckled, and jumped at the airborne Naruto, using his face as a springboard to put himself far above all Narutos. The explosion went off (explosive kunai), and served as a cover for Naruto's second "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU" which covered a decent sized area with about 30 clones. They all threw shuriken at Sasuke the moment they spawned.

'Fuck!' Sasuke thought as he tried as fast as he could to finish his jutsu. He ended with the tiger seal, and blew a giant fireball down to the ground. All Naruto clones poofed out of existence, and Sasuke fell back to the ground and pulled several (like, 6 or 7) shuriken out of his arms, legs, and chest.

Sasuke looked around for the real Naruto, and found him smoldering off to the side. He walked over to, then squatted down beside Naruto. He grabbed the twitching blonde by his hair, lifting his head up so they were facing each other. "That was pathetic. You're pathetic. Not even worth killing," Sasuke said, and Naruto struggled a little, then went back to twitching. That wasn't the reaction Sasuke was looking for. He looked up towards Sakura, then smiled and looked back down to Naruto.

Sakura was always happy when Sasuke looked at her, and thought she might faint if he ever actually smiled at her. The smile he showed her now, however, twisted and hateful, made her sick. Not disgusted, but physically sick. It felt like her stomach was tied in a knot, and someone was pulling as hard as they could on either side, trying to tighten it so it would be impossible to un-knot.

"She really is cute you know. Sakura, I mean," Sasuke started after finding the perfect way to get a reaction from Naruto, "I wonder if I should go tell her I love her or something. I bet she would open her legs real quick. I bet I could find a good use for that big mouth of hers, too. I'm a nice guy, though. After me, Neji, and Lee get bored of her, I'll let you get some too."

Naruto started struggling again, pushing himself up to his knees before Sasuke crushed his face back into the dirt. "Maybe I should rent her out to a brothel after we make her obedient, too. She could make us some extra money, and you could go see her whenever you want. You might have to wait for her to finish with her other visitors first, though, you can't be selfish and hog her." (if you think Sasuke's ooc, read author's box)

Naruto was pushing back up from the ground again, with his nails digging into the ground as he did. Sasuke let him get up to his knees, then pushed him down again. But, to Sasuke's surprise, when he pushed him down he didn't budge. Naruto started to growl, and Sasuke felt a chill run down his spine as the air around them changed. "_**I won't let you touch her!"**_ Naruto snarled, and Sasuke jumped backwards. He was frozen by what he saw after that. Red charka was swirling around Naruto, forming up to a giant fox head above Naruto. "_**I'm gonna kill you!"**_

Author's box

* * *

Ohhhhuhuhuhuuu, I got goosebumps (not really). Um, I was gonna talk about Ino this chapter, but she needed more space than was allowed without taking away from what I already wrote, but definitely next chapter (maybe). So, did you guys like this chapter? What? It sucked? You douche-bag. Seriously though, make sure to leave comments! The more comments I see, the faster this reaches your computer screen! FYI, if I had more than one comment, I would have went to the library to write this, and you probably would be reading this two weeks ago. I was gonna, but I figured "Hey! They don't like it enough to comment, than they don't like it enough to make me go out of my way to get it done!"

Oh, and about the Sasuke part, that wasn't him really intending to do what he was talking about, it was more like... you know when there's the older brother and the younger brother, and the older is consistently better than the younger, but one day the younger gets the upper hand and struts around like he owns the place? Sasuke played the older brother, not only crushing him under heel so he knew his place, but doing everything he could to upset him. he never actually meant any of it, but Naruto didn't know that.


	4. 04 Damage

I used to own Naruto, but I lost the rights in a poker game… along with my clothes… I have gambling issues…

Thank you everyone, for comment on my last chapter. You are the reason why I was able to finish this fast. Don't you know, I was able to finish like half of it when I read all of your comments the day I posted my chapter? And I would like to promise one "namikazestorm" that as long as I don't go, like 3 chapters with only 1 comment, I will continue, and never abandon this story. Your comment helped most of all, BTW. But, yeah, enjoy the story.

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"Wow, it took a while to finish that mission," Kakashi sighed as he walked out of the Hokage tower with his Genin team.

"No!" Ino shouted at her sensei, "You aren't allowed to complain about anything taking a long time, Kakashi-sensei! It took you almost an hour and a half to show up this morning!"

"I said I'm sorry, the road of life can be very winding," Kakashi responded, pulling out his book to finish up his interrupted chapter of icha icha (due to returning to the Hokage tower. It's rude to ignore the Hokage so you can read a dirty book.).

"And again with that stupid book!" she shouted at his back as he kept walking.

"Hey, what's in that book anyway?" Kiba asked loudly, "Every time we see you, you're reading it!"

Kakashi giggled a little at something he read. "It's a book not for children." Kakashi said without looking at them.

"…" Shino remained quiet, and kept walking.

"So, after we finish our first mission, us sensei's are supposed to bring you guys to eat. You know, to bond and stuff. But I don't really feel like it; we'll only go if-" Kakashi explained, then stopped abruptly. He looked up from his book and to the side. Ino, Kiba and Shino could see his face; he looked serious.

"Sensei… What's…" Ino asked, but stopped when she heard a whine from behind her.

She turned back and saw Akamaru whimpering on Kiba's head before turning, then crawling back into his hood. Kiba sniffed a few times, then took a step back. "What on… What is that? Something… evil."

Ino then noticed a buzzing sound coming from Shino. "Shino?" she asked, watching him as he looked down at himself, then back up to her.

"… Something dangerous…" he said,then looked around.

"Dangerous? Like what?" she said, too confused to mention the fact that he said something unnecessarily, and then looked back to Kakashi.

"Everyone, stay here. Don't follow me. That's an order." Kakashi said, then leapt off on to a nearby building.

"'Don't follow me'? that's pretty much like telling us to follow him. come on guys, lets go!" Ino said, as she looked back to her teammates. Shino was still buzzing, but was nervously looking around now. Akamaru could still be heard whining, then Kiba was growling a little.

"Guys?" she asked, unsure why they were acting like they were.

"No… we should stay here, Ino. Something bad is happening, we need to stay here."

"It'll be fine, come on! Let's go!" she pressed, and gestured for them to come with her. Shino looked at her, then shook his head slowly (In the regular story, he is quiet, but still talks from time to time. I figured if he had two loud teammates, he would be a bit quieter. Shino fans, don't hate me if you feel I misunderstood him, or over exaggerated his quiet personality).

"Fine! I'll go by myself!" she shouted, and headed off towards where Kakashi headed.

"Wait! No don't…Dammit!" Kiba shouted after her. He stood there for a moment, then turned to his other teammate. "Dammit… Shino, we have to help her. If she goes by herself, she might die," Kiba said, then headed off after her. Shino stood there for a second, took a hesitant step forward, then begun following Kiba and Ino.

* * *

Asuma was sitting at his kitchen table, sipping tea (remember, Teams 8 and 7 were an hour or so late for their mission, and so he (and Guy) were not with their teams.) when he sensed the demonic chakra being released from somewhere on the other side of Konoha. He got up and grabbed a pack of cigarettes off the table next to his front door, and headed out to the chakra source. Guy, on the other hand, was unable to sense the chakra, as he took another mission after leaving his students (he was inspired by the fires of their youth), so he was out of the village.

* * *

"_**I'm gonna kill you!"**_Naruto snarled at the petrified Sasuke.

'N-Naruto-kun?' Hinata thought as a large amount of red chakra was flowing into Naruto.

"FUCK!" Anko shouted when she saw the fox over his head and felt the chakra he was pumping out.

"Sensei, what happened to—" was all Sakura got out before Anko and Kurenai jumped down towards Naruto.

"Naruto-kun! What's going on!" Lee shout-talked.

"Lee, we have to help-" was all Neji got out before he activated his byakugan and was overwhelmed by the sight, mass and intensity of the chakra in and around Naruto.

"What's wrong Neji-kun, aren't we gonna help Sasuke?" Lee asked, but Neji did not answer.

"What…" Neji blurted out after a moment, "What is he?" and took a step backwards.

* * *

Naruto seemed to teleport (to the Genin and any bystanders) in front of Sasuke, and smashed his face in. Sasuke went flying backwards into a building. "_**GRAAAAGH"**_Naruto roared to the sky. It sent chill down everyone's spines there, Jounin included. Naruto went to jump after Sasuke again, but a giant tree grew up and around Naruto. He was unable to move as Kurenai appeared in front of him.

"Naruto!" Kurenai called to him, "Can you hear my voice? I need you to calm down. If you don't, you'll be—" was all she got out as another deafening roar echoed through the sky.

The tree evaporated, and Naruto clawed at Kurenai. She back flipped away, then shushined up to the rooftop, hoping he might calm down with out any provocation. That was when a random guy decided to get big and chuck a glass bottle at him. It hit Naruto, in the head, causing him to turn to the man. Naruto growled, then pounced on the foolish villager.

Right before the villager's idiotic life came to an end, Anko grabbed Naruto from behind and threw him away from the man. "Th-Thank you!" he said to Anko, and she stabbed him in the stomach with a previously unseen kunai.

"Oops. What where you doing in a battlefield?" she mused darkly as he fell to the floor. She turned back to Naruto, and tried to talk to him. "Naruto! It's me, Anko-sensei! You have to calm down! Ramen! We still haven't gotten any ramen yet, right? Let's go and—" was all she was able to say before he charged at her.

"No, Naruto! You have to…" she started, but stopped when she realized it wasn't working. She jumped over him, then shushined up to the roof with Kurenai. "What are we gonna do? If we can't get him to calm down, they'll execute him!" Anko asked, starting to panic.

"He didn't attack you or me right away, and he took longer too go after you than me… maybe if we get someone he's close enough to, he'll calm down. Use Sakura, but stay with her, just in case."

Anko nodded, then moved over to Sakura. Almost as soon as she left, Kakashi appeared on the roof with Kurenai. "What are we doing?" he asked her calmly.

"He is reacting to people he is close too," she answered without looking at him, "we are gonna use Anko and Sakura to see if he will stop, and revert."

"Okay… wait. Why Anko? She didn't… do anything… you know, with him?" Kakashi asked, a little unsure as to why Naruto would have any real attachment to her.

"No. She bought him new clothes earlier, and he's been addressing her with respect since then."

"Oh," he said, "sorry, she's just a little… she jokes a lot, but it's hard to tell sometimes."

Kurenai nodded. "I know. I thought she did something with him for a little bit, too."

* * *

"Sakura, I need you to come with me to calm down Naruto," Anko said as she appeared next to Sakura and Hinata.

"WAH!" Sakura yelped, as Anko unexpectedly arrived. Hinata jumped quite a bit as well, and squeaked.

"Come on, he needs people he's close too, or he won't calm down."

'People he's close too… that's not me, is it…' Hinata thought, then perked up a little. "W-what about Ayame-san and Teuchi-san. T-they could help, right?" Hinata said before they left. Anko looked at her for a moment, then smiled and brought Sakura down with her to the Ichiraku shop.

"Ayame, Teuchi, are you here?" Anko called through the small booth. Ayame and Teuchi popped their heads up from behind the counter, and looked to them with questioning looks.

"What do you want from us? We can't fight!" Teuchi yelled shakily, sinking his head back down a little more.

"Naruto is in trouble. He needs you're help, or they might kill him." Anko said, causing Sakura looked at her with shock on her face.

"Who's gonna kill him? Why?" she asked with a worried tone.

"You don't have to worry about it if we hurry."

Ayame, on shaky legs, stood up. "Father, you can stay here if you want, but I'm going to go help Naruto-kun!" she declared resolutely, but didn't move. "Um, can someone help me, my legs aren't listening to me…" she chuckled out nervously. Teuchi stood up as well.

"Count me in too! I can't just leave Naruto and my only daughter to deal with this! Lets do it!" he said, but unfortunately, he was also unable too move.

"Oh my- come on, Naruto needs our help!" Anko shouted, causing them to snap out of it. They climbed over the counter, and headed outside.

"Naruto!" Anko called out to him. Naruto turned around and looked at her, then begun growling. "It's your friends! We just want to help you!" she called out again. Naruto had stopped moving, and he was just watching them.

He started growling a little bit, then Ayame called out to him. "Naruto, you're being very rude right now! If you stop now though, we can still go and eat some ramen!"

Teuchi started as well. "Come on Naruto, I won't be able to call you my best customer anymore if you destroy everything, now will I!" Naruto was not growling anymore, and was just sitting there.

"Naruto, you have to relax! Calm down, it's very important!" Sakura yelled to him.

Naruto had begun to relax. The wide lines on his cheeks faded to their normal size, his teeth returned to their normal sizes, and so did his nails. His chakra went down to normal levels, and the air returned to a semi-pleasant one. "H-hunh? What happ-" Naruto managed to get out before he was smashed over the back of the head by a ninja in an animal mask.

"Mission accomplished, Danzo-sama." He said into a microphone on his collar.

"What the hell are you doing!" Anko shouted at the ninja, "He calmed down, he wasn't a threat anymore!"

He turned to her calmly. "My mission was to neutralize Uzumaki Naruto. Regardless of if he was a threat or not."

"Now wait just a minute!" Ayame hollered at the ninja, "You can't just go smashing people over the head when they aren't even hurting anyone!" causing the animal mask turned to her.

"I didn't hit a person, I just hit this thing," he said, and kicked Naruto.

Anko was about to murder this dude, when Kakashi and Kurenai appeared in front of her. "Move, sis." She said darkly, but Kurenai didn't move.

"Who do you work for? You aren't ANBU." Kakashi said, while looking at the man's mask.

"That's classified." He said, and moved to pick Naruto up, then his head twitched to the side. He jumped to the left, and turned back to where he jumped from to see Hinata standing protectively over Naruto. Her byakugan was activated, and she was in her family's juken style stance.

"I won't let you touch him!" she said, keeping her fierce gaze on him. He made an irritated noise, then left.

Everyone was quiet for a second, marveling at how awesomely Hinata had dealt with the wannabe ANBU, when a shout of "That was AWESOME, Hinata!" came from behind them. Everyone turned to face the source of the voice, and saw the rest of Team 7 standing there.

Kiba and Shino were standing further back than Ino was, staring cautiously over at the unconscious Naruto. "When did you three get here," Kakashi asked in a voice that told them he already knew they would follow him.

"Around the time Anko and Sakura brought those two out of that booth." Ino stated proudly. "But," she continued after a moment, "what was wrong with Naruto? Why was he all scary looking and stuff?"

"We aren't allowed to tell you, but you can talk to Naruto when he wakes up," Kakashi explained in a lazy tone, "If he wants to, he can talk to you about it, he can."

"Alright," she said, a little disappointed, then looked to Ayame and Teuchi, "but can you tell me why you had random villagers helping you?"

"It's us, Ino-chan," Ayame said, a little upset Ino didn't remember her, "we met when you, Ami-chan and Naruto-kun came in here the other day."

Ino frowned. "I did what with who?" she asked, cocking her head to the side a little.

"Um, y-yeah," Ayame said, unsure of why she didn't remember when she was so obviously attracted in some way to Naruto, "you said you promised to pay for Naruto-kun's lunch, then came here and ate." she said, pointing to their booth.

"Sorry, wasn't me. Must be another Ino living here," Ino said, waving it off as a case of mistaken identity.

"Then what did you do yesterday?" Anko questioned in an interrogator's tone, as she had to make sure Ino wasn't just pretending nothing happened so people didn't think she liked Naruto. She wouldn't allow someone like that to be anywhere near Naruto.

"Yesterday? I was… I… wait a minute…" Ino said, then grabbed at the back of her head.

Anko quirked an eyebrow at the blondes odd behavior. "What's the first thing you remember, then. Start from there."

Ino straightened up and looked up in a thoughtful expression. "Well… I woke up, got ready for the day. You know, shower and breakfast and stuff. Then I went and took Kakashi's survival test, and passed. Then I met up with Ami… she told me she passed too, then we started talking about… Naruto, I think… then we decided to meet and hang out with him for a bit… we found him and then… we… I went… I think I went somewhere henged as him… then I remember… training with father for some new family jutsu… then I watered my plants, ate, and went to bed."

"Really?" Anko asked, confused, "That's weird. Let's wait for Naruto to wake up to find out what happened after that." Anko knew very well that nothing happened to Ino up until she got home the other day, but she can't say she followed her home. Maybe her father found out about her newfound affection and erased it from memory. She knew he didn't hate Naruto, but he seemed like the type of father who might do something like that.

Inoichi probably left her affection for Sasuke alone because Sasuke only concentrated on training, and completely ignored any girls who talked to him. Even so, he always had someone watching Sasuke to make sure he never touched his daughter. Anko would have a talk with him later.

"Nothing we can do about it now though, huh?" Sakura said, then turned to Ayame. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked, looking up slightly to meet Ayame's eyes.

"Sure, fire away."

"Why don't you call him Naruto-kun when he's around?" Sakura asked, curious as to why she hadn't called him 'kun' in the booth. Hinata was making sure to listen to the answer closely; she would probably never have the courage to ask herself, but she really wanted to know the answer.

"Well… he gets nervous when people address him with honorifics. It makes him feel… well, you can ask him that later, but he just asked us not to add kun to his name." Ayame finished, gesturing to Teuchi.

"Wait," Kiba said, as he was now over his cautious watching of Naruto, "why would he be nervous of someone calling him kun?"

Kakashi answered. "He's had a hard life." The lone eyed-Jounin sighed, and took out his little orange book. "I'm not really needed here, so I'm gonna take off."

Just before Kakashi left, however, Naruto started to stir. "huhh" was the noise Naruto made as he sat up. Hinata hadn't moved since she fended off the fake ANBU member, so she was standing directly over him, a leg on both sides of his body. This caused the rising blonde to come face-to-crotch with Hinata.

Everyone was watching them. Naruto was confused, though, as he sat up without opening his eyes. He lifted his arms to grab whatever was in his way, with one hand on each buttock. He didn't understand why what he was grabbing was soft, so in order to further investigate, he squeezed each object. When he couldn't figure out what it was, he decided to back up to see what it was, as his common sense started up again.

He looked up at a passed out Hinata, still standing, with an entire face blush almost as red as his new outfit, steam coming from her head, and drool coming from slightly open her mouth. He then looked down at his hands, and realized what he had been grabbing. He slowly removed his hands from where they had been then blushed almost as deep as Hinata. He turned to look at the spectators, face redder than it had ever been.

Kakashi was silently and pervertedly giggling to him self, with one hand brought up to where his mouth was perceived to be (mask covers it, so I don't really know). Anko was smiling bigger than he knew she was capable of, and giving him the thumbs up sign. Teuchi was looking at him with pride sparkling in his eyes. Ayame was blushing with her mouth hanging open. Ino had a large and perverted grin on her face. Kiba shouted, "GO NARUTO! WAY TO STEAL SECOND BASE!" and started laughing. Shino was entirely silent, but no one saw the slight blush he carried underneath his collar. Sakura was… nowhere to be seen. Naruto looked around and saw Kurenai pointing over Naruto. He looked up, and the last thing he heard was "NARUTO, YOU PERVERT!" before her fist connected with his face.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes, and stared at a white ceiling. "Where…" he groaned, then tried to sit up. He couldn't. He tried again to no avail, then looked down to his body. He was underneath a white sheet, with black leather straps wrapped around him, and tied down to the bed.

"Yeah, they tied you up." A voice from his left said. He turned, and saw Ino sitting next to him.

"Who tied me up?" Naruto asked resting his head back on his pillow.

"Some ANBU dudes. That's what Kurenai-sensei said, they had the same types of masks as that other dude, though."

"What other dude?" Naruto asked, as he never saw his assailant. Well, the first one. Sakura doesn't really count.

"Oh… doesn't matter. Anyway, I need to talk to you." She said, and looked at him seriously.

"What do you need, Ino?" he said, and just looked at her.

"What happened yesterday, what did we do? I don't remember any of it; maybe I got amnesia or something, but I don't remember anything after transforming into you for some reason."

"Really? Alight then. Lets see…(Naruto explains why she transformed into him, and everything up to them separating at the training area)… and that's the last I saw of you. Ami will know every thing after that, though."

"Well, the only thing I can think of is that it might've been that shop owner hitting me. But still, it should've been instant amnesia, and I shouldn't have forgotten what happened after the hit," Ino mused aloud, trying to figure out the puzzle that was her memory loss.

"Well," Naruto said, "you'll have to find out the rest from Ami. But for now… I kinda have to urinate. Could you untie me?"

"…Seriously Naruto… you know just how to ruin a serious mood." She muttered, then started to untie him.

A nurse came in, and shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" She rushed to the two blondes, pushing Ino away from Naruto.

"Hey, what's your problem!" Ino shouted aggressively, "He's got to use the bathroom!"

"What's YOUR problem?" the nurse retorted angrily, "We catch this demon, and you just wanna let him go so he can 'use the bathroom'? Are you stupid?" she continued to yell.

"I-it's fine, Ino, I don't really have to go anymore. It's fine." Naruto said nervously. Ino was nice to him yesterday, genuinely nice, and he didn't want her to be hated by anyone for helping him out.

Ino was about to protest further, when she saw someone jump in from the window on the end of the room towards the nurse's back. The person landed behind the nurse, and then the nurse collapsed to the floor to reveal Hinata standing behind her, byakugan activated.

"Holy crap, Hinata! What did you do?" Ino said, looking at her with amazement for the second time that day.

"I-I just put her to s-sleep. S-she's fine," she said, shutting her byakugan down and moving the nurse to the second bed in the room. She turned to help Naruto out of his restraints, but seeing his face caused her to blush deeply and look away. Naruto mimicked the action, with a slightly smaller, but still considerably sized blush.

A sly smirk slid across Ino's face. "Oh, I get it. You want to continue from before Sakura knocked you out," she said in an understanding tone. "Maybe you'll get a little farther without Sakura here to interrupt." Hinata was steaming, but could form no words.

"NO! That's not- it wasn't-" Naruto tried to explain, but was too flustered to actually convey anything intelligent.

"How come every time I see you, you're messing with my Hinata?" a voice called from the front door. Everyone turned to see Tenten standing in the doorway, arms folded disapprovingly. "T-Tenten! W-what are you doing here?" Hinata asked, gradually returning to her normal skin tone.

"I heard something happened with Naruto in town, and he was in the hospital. Then I figured I would come visit, and see everyone." Tenten walked into the room, and continued. "I tried to bring Shikamaru, but he said it was too 'troublesome'. Choji had family jutsu practice, but he said he would come see Naruto later if he was still in the hospital."

"Thank you for coming to visit, but I still need to use the bathroom. Can someone help me out?" Naruto said, wiggling a little under the sheet.

"I got ya," Tenten said, walking towards him with a kunai suddenly in her hand. She cut the leather straps at the topmost part, splitting it so it fell to either side of the bed. Naruto sat up, wriggling out of his last restraint (the sheet), and jumped out of the bed. "Thank you, Tenten," he said, then headed to the bathroom available in all of the rooms.

"New clothes?" Tenten said after he disappeared from sight.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask him about those. Lets ask after-" she said, but was interrupted by a sound from the bathroom.

All three girls turned to the bathroom as the sound continued. It was the sound of Naruto emptying his bladder. They listened for a moment, then looked at each other. The sound continued for what seemed like forever, but only about 20 seconds. It stopped and they looked at the door again, a flush, and then the sink. The sink turned off and he walked out after another couple seconds. He walked out with relived smile on his face, but stopped when he saw them all staring at him. "W-what?" he asked, starting to get a little nervous.

"Uzumaki Naruto," an eagle faced ANBU called from the doorway.

"Yeah?" Naruto responded automatically, still a little nervous.

"You were summoned by Hokage-sama. Yuuhi Kurenai will escort you. She's down stairs, come with me," the man said, and stepped back from the doorway to allow Naruto out.

Naruto turned to everyone. "Alright see you guys later. And thanks for coming to see me Tenten." Naruto exited the room, headed for the stairs, and was followed by the ANBU.

The three girls stayed quiet for a moment after Naruto left, then Ino turned to Tenten. "I guess we'll have to ask later…" then turned to Hinata.

"U-um… h-his clothes b-burned up, s-so Anko-sensei bought him s-some new ones…" Hinata explained.

"Oh," Tenten said, "that's where they came from." Ino smiled and said, "So Tenten… wanna hear about how far Hinata's gotten with Naruto? Right in front of everyone?" and Tenten paused for a moment, then covered her face with her hand, peeking through at a furiously blushing Hinata.

"…What happened?" she asked, and Hinata got redder, steaming a little as Ino explained in detail, with many embarrassing hand groping gestures.

* * *

A series of loud knocks echoed through the Yamanaka's main house. The door opened a few seconds later to reveal a formally dressed Inoichi. "Anko? What are you doing here? I was just heading out to a hearing," he said, confused about why she could possibly be at his door.

"I need to ask you some questions about your daughter. Nothing to get serious about, but I need to confirm a few things."

"Come in," Inoichi said, opening his door for her, "Do you want some tea?"

Anko walked in, waving her hand, "Nah, I'll be quick."

"So," Inoichi asked her as she sat down on the couch in the living room, "what's going on? What do you need to know?" he finished, sitting down as well.

"What do you know about Ino's day yesterday?" she asked normally, watching for any reaction he had but not letting him know he was being interrogated.

"Yesterday…? She left for her survival exercise, then came back later in the day. Why, did she do anything?" he asked, trying to figure out what could have possibly caused Anko to ask.

"No. But about after she got home, how was she acting?" she asked, trying to get some more information about yesterday.

"Well," he said, holding his chin in a thinking pose, "she was acting strangely for a while. You know, all giddy and floaty. It was actually really weird, because she went back to normal in the middle of training. Teenage girls are so difficult to figure out…" he finished, shaking his head slightly.

"Well," Anko said, satisfied that Inoichi didn't know what happened to her, "she has sort of lost her memory for most of yesterday. She was hanging out with Naruto that day, and I wanted to make sure you didn't do anything to make her forget about it or something."

"What! She lost her memory? How!" he demanded frantically, his protective instincts overcoming the need to defend his self against Anko's assumptions, "Did someone do something to my little princess!"

"Calm down," she said, waving him down with her hands, "I don't why she lost her memory. She was hit in the head pretty hard yesterday, but she was healed. She was perfectly functional after the incident, but if nothing happened when she got home, I can't figure out how she could have forgotten."

"WHAT! WHO HIT MY LITTLE ANGEL?" he shouted, completely forgetting about his daughters memory loss, grabbing one of the many hidden kunai ninja keep hidden in their house from under his couch.

"Calm down. I'll tell you where he works, but he attacked her cause he thought she was Naruto."

"That's one mix-up he won't live to regret," he laughed out evily, then looked to Anko with disbelief on his face, "How on earth could he mix those two up?"

Anko decided to fill him in on the Naruto section of the story. Maybe not the 'your daughter was mind and eye humping Naruto every time he wasn't looking' part, though, but that wasn't really necessary right now. "She, along with Ami, went to go see Naruto yesterday. They heard about how he was treated by villagers, and wanted to get to know him better. She wanted to see what he was talking about first hand, so she henged into him and walked into a store."

Inoichi froze, then started to tremble with anger. "Naruto… he tried to kill my daughter?" and started walking towards the door.

"No, it wasn't like that. I listened to their entire conversation. Ino decided to go into the store on her own. He told her they would attack her before hand, too." Inoichi paused, and thought for a moment.

"This wasn't like the other time?" Inoichi asked, and Anko shook her head.

"No, Ino was completely willing, and knew everything beforehand." Inoichi stood for a moment longer, then went back to his seat. "Do you still want the guy's name and where he works?" Anko asked, and Inoichi slowly nodded his head.

* * *

Sakura was sitting in Sasuke's hospital room, staring at his unconscious form. His right arm was in a cast, and his legs were in splints. He also had bandages wrapped around his head. His legs had been fractured, his arm broken, and he had a concussion. 'Sasuke-kun… what was that smile? Why did you look at me like that?' she thought, trying to make sense out of Sasuke's actions. She was actually a bit concerned about Naruto as well, but Kurenai had told her he was fine now. He also wasn't injured, so there wasn't any internal conflict about who to visit.

* * *

"So where are we going?" Naruto asked Kurenai as they exited the hospital.

"We have to go see the Hokage and the village council, so we can defend you. You are being threatened with execution for your actions in town earlier." She said in a professional tone of voice. She was actually very pissed off that they were even trying to execute him, and getting this far.

"Oh, okay… wait, WHAT?" Naruto said, getting a little frantic. He had finally made a potential family; he didn't want to lose it now.

"Don't worry, you won't be. Hokage is there for you, and so am I. Anko, Sakura and Hinata aren't allowed to help because they are part of your team, but I will be representing you. If it were for a witness, I wouldn't be allowed in," Kurenai reassured him, putting her hand on his shoulder briefly before continuing towards the court.

"… You're gonna help me?" Naruto asked, wanting to confirm that he heard right.

"Of course, why wouldn't I? Even if it wasn't as your sensei, it would be as your friend." Kurenai kept walking, not looking at him, but turned slightly so she could see him after a few seconds. He was still walking behind her to the right, with a sad confused look on his face, head slightly down.

She said the right thing. He had to understand that the people around him now weren't going to hurt or betray him. Even little by little, bit by bit, he would open up for them. She could tell by how he had formed a bond with Hinata and Anko in only a couple days. His bond with them wasn't particularly strong, compared to his other precious people, but it definitely existed. He proved that by staring Neji down for Hinata, and pausing for Anko in his feral state. He probably thought of them as possibly precious people, or something along those lines.

They continued to walk in silence, up until they made it to the court. They were stopped by two ANBU members at the entrance. "Uzumaki Naruto, you are required to wear these." The ANBU on the right said, holding up shackles. They were chakra-containing shackles, chaining the wrist and ankles to each other, then those chains together (those shackles they put on prisoners that look like an I).

"Sorry Naruto, these are standard procedures for anyone being charged with execution. Don't worry, I promise you, I won't allow them to execute you," Kurenai said, looking into Naruto's eyes reassuringly. Naruto thought for a moment. He could trust Kurenai, and probably be executed. If she would lie to him, then he probably would end up not wanting to live anymore anyway. If his family… no, not family. If his not-family would try to kill him, then anyone would try. Iruka, Ayame, Teuchi, Hokage; anyone would.

"Okay," He agreed, making his final leap of hope in having family, and holding out his hands. They shackled Naruto up, and opened the front court doors for them. They were kept in a side room for 20 minutes as they got the court ready. An ANBU member entered the room, and brought them into the court.

They headed down the aisle to where all of the major ninja house heads were, along with main village council members, and the Hokage. To the sides of the court, were villagers and ninjas that came to watch what would happen. Naruto looked around nervously, and took a step up to a stand meant for defendants.

Naruto looked to the gathered council and ninja members, and recognized a few of them. Shikamaru's dad, Choji's dad, Hinata's dad, Shino's dad, Ino's dad, and a few council and ninja members who looked a little like people he knew. Maybe Sakura's father, maybe Kiba's mom, maybe Shino's dad, and maybe Ami's parents were seen scattered among the gathered ninjas and villagers.

"We are here today," Hokage started, standing up so all eyes were on him, "to judge whether or not Uzumaki Naruto is currently a threat to the citizens of Konoha. We will start with the charges, then move to the defendants witness's, evidence and or arguments that prove that the charges are faulty." Hokage gestured to Danzo, who was sitting to his right, and sat down.

Danzo stood. "We, the village council, wish to execute Uzumaki Naruto because of the threat he now possesses to every man, woman, and child living in Konoha. He transformed in the middle of town, and the casualty was one civilian, and an injured Uchiha Sasuke. If we weren't able to stop him, he would have continued his rampage through the entire town. Before he is able to destroy this village, we must execute him. For the lives of our children, and ourselves, we must execute him." Danzo stated, and then sat down.

Naruto looked around the room, and every villager and a majority of the ninja looked at him with hateful eyes. He looked to Kurenai, and she looked down at him with a smile. It reassured him a little, but he was still nervous. Hokage looked at Kurenai, then gestured to her. "I would like to remove the death of a civilian from the charges. The man was killed with a kunai, but Naruto wasn't ever carrying a kunai during the transformation. My first witness's will confirm that, and will help prove Naruto isn't dangerous. That man was killed by someone other than Naruto." Kurenai said, then looked to the front row of the audience, and Kakashi stood up, along with Ino, Kiba and Shino.

Team 7 walked up to a witness stand that was in front of the defendant stand (to prevent any visual contact between the witness(s) and the defendant, preventing any influence on their testimony). "Hatake Kakashi, Yamanaka Ino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino for the defense," Kurenai said as they stood on the stand, before the Hokage and those beside him.

Hiashi, who was sitting to the left of the Hokage, stood. "You four were present at the incident, I presume?" he said, and got a short nod from each of them, "Now, can you explain what you saw?"

Kakashi stepped forward. "Yes. I arrived first, and the deceased was still alive. He attacked Naruto with a glass bottle, and Naruto attacked him. He was stopped, however, by Mitarashi Anko. After that, I kept my eyes on Naruto the entire time, and the defendant never went near or attacked the deceased again. And as for the threat Naruto is assumed to posses, he was easily tamed. Four of his friend talked to him, and he reverted back from his transformation." Kakashi finished, and stood there.

"You didn't see how the deceased received the kunai wound?" Hiashi asked, curious about why he seemed to be avoiding the question.

"I saw that Naruto wasn't the one to kill him. That is all I'm required to say in this trial," Kakashi countered.

Hiashi was quiet for a moment. "Very well. Moving on to the Genin. Who saw what?"

"Yeah, we all saw the same thing," Ino said, taking a step forward, "we got there in time to see Naruto get calmed down by Anko, Sakura and two villagers." Ino said, and then moved back.

"If that's all, you can sit back down." Hiashi said, and sat back down. Team 7 headed back to their seats.

Kurenai started talking again. "We have two more witnesses, but they will just reconfirm that they calmed Naruto down. If you are satisfied with just Team 7's testimony, they won't be necessary."

"They won't be," Hokage said from his seat, "We understand from Team 7 that Naruto was easily calmed down. Is there anything else before we vote?"

"Yes, actually," Kurenai spoke again, "I would like to explain that it wasn't just Naruto walking down the street, then transforming and attacking people. He was provoked. Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke had a match in the middle of the street. Sasuke had won, and then threatened Naruto to get a rise out of him. Naruto is extremely protective over people he deems as precious, such can be seen from the Mizuki incident. Haruno Sakura is one of those precious people. Uchiha Sasuke threatened to rape her, and then sell her to a brothel after he 'trained' her. That is why Naruto transformed; he had to stop Sasuke from hurting his precious person. Imagine if someone threatened your daughter, your wife, or even your best friend… the least you would do is punch them," Kurenai finished, and it was dead quiet for a moment.

'That's what happened?' Sakura thought with a distressed look on her face, 'When he smiled at me like that… that's what he said to Naruto?' she continued, then hung her head a bit. 'He… would he really…' she thought, remembering his smile. Her stomach started hurting again as she remembered it. 'No… he…' Sakura thought as she tried to rationalize his actions and words, but couldn't.

"That will be considered by all members of the court, I'll assume." Hokage said, and stood up. "All who believe the defendant, Uzumaki Naruto, is a current threat, that he will transform again and endanger the lives of fellow villagers; stand to the left of the court. Anyone who believes that he will not transform and endanger Konoha citizens, or believe not enough evidence was presented to decide, stand to the right of the court."

Hokage walked to the right of the court room immediately. He gave Naruto a small smile, then said, "Next, the ninja family heads." He watched as Kiba's mom, Shino's dad (more because they could feel and smell the chakra, like Kiba and Shino), and Hiashi moved to the left of the room, and Inoichi, Shikaku and Choza moved to the right. "Now for the village council." He said, and watched with a smile as Danzo moved immediately to the left. All that was left, was Hokage's former teammates and Sakura's father and Ami's mother and father. What they decided would decide Naruto's fate. Sakura's father would have vote against Naruto, right up until Kurenai mentioned Naruto's reason for transforming. Ami's mother and father looked at their own daughter in the crowd, and wondered how they would react if someone threatened her like that. Hokage's old teammates, Homura and Koharu, moved to the left after very short consideration of Naruto's reason, decided that wasn't worth endangering the lives of everyone in Konoha, and moved to the left. After waiting a moment longer, Sakura's dad and Ami's parents moved to the right.

Hokage smiled again. "7 to 6, Uzumaki Naruto is not a danger to Konoha, and will not be executed. You are free to go, Naruto." An ANBU appeared in front of Naruto after the Hokage's words, and unlocked his shackles. He took the shackles, then walked away. Naruto watched as the ANBU walked away, looked down at his wrists, then up to Kurenai.

"Told ya," she said playfully, and smiled gently at him.

"…Th-…thank you, Kurenai-sensei," Naruto said quietly.

'Is he starting to trust me? That's the first time he has called me Kurenai-sensei.' "No problem, Naruto. Come on, lets go." she said, and turned to leave the court room. Naruto turned as well, and saw the rest of Team 8 (including Anko), Team 10 (Minus Asuma), Rock Lee, and Team 7(Minus Kakashi) standing there.

"Congratulations on not getting killed, Naruto!" Ino exclaimed loudly, giving him a thumbs up.

"Nice," Kurenai said sarcastically.

"Thanks, Ino, but why are you all here, talking to me?" Naruto asked, curious as to why they all didn't leave when it was over.

"Isn't that obvious, Naruto-kun?" Rock Lee shout-talked, "Cause we're all friends! That's what friends do!"

Naruto looked at all of them. He could see that they all had some sort of smile on their face (except Shino, for obvious reasons), and started to feel uneasy. His stomach started to hurt, and his survival instinct told him he was in trouble. "…Um, I-I have to go." Naruto said, then pushed through them, and left the courtroom.

"Huh? He ran away…" Tenten said, and stared after Naruto.

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata said, and started tugging at her sleeves a little.

"Why did he leave?" chouji asked, and started eating half-eaten bag of chips he had in his pocket (you can't noisily eat chips in a court room).

"I guess he thought it was troublesome." Shikamaru said. Kiba turned back to look at Kurenai, "Do we follow him?" and Kurenai shook her head.

"He was probably overwhelmed when you all were so friendly at once. We should leave him alone, otherwise he might not trust us anymore. Thank you, everyone, for coming to see him though. It's much appreciated."

* * *

Naruto sat in a tree outside of the courthouse. He looked at the sun through the branches, in the middle of the sky. "You alright?" Anko asked from behind him.

"Uwahhh!" he hollered, falling off the branch as he did. He just hung in midair, though, so he looked up.

He saw Anko smiling, "You alright?" she asked again as she pulled him up.

"Thanks…" he said, moving to sit back down on the branch. "I'm fine, I just can't… I'm not sure if I can have friends."

"Sure you can! Just look at me! Even if you only have one close friend, and some normal friends, you'll end up fine." she said, smiling down at the depressed blonde. "You body is telling you to run away, isn't it." She said knowingly, sitting down next to him.

He turned to look at her questioningly. "How'd you…" Naruto asked the still smiling Anko.

"Well, cause I was a-" was all she was able to say before they heard a familiar shout of a pink haired kunoichi.

"Naruto, where are you?" she called as she left the court with Hinata and Kurenai.

"Everyone's looking for you. I'll talk to you some other time, okay?" she said, put her hand on his shoulder, and smiled a little more. She then jumped out of the tree, then waved them over.

Naruto jumped down as well, seeing that everyone was looking at him.

Kurenai spoke up. "Naruto, me and Anko are going to leave, okay? We have some work to do, but you guys can go and eat somewhere, or just hang out."

"Let's get something to eat," Sakura said, "we missed out on lunch, so I'm kind of hungry." Hinata nodded, and so did Naruto, a large grin on his face, so Kurenai left with Anko.

"A-Are we gonna go back to I-Ichiraku's?" Hinata said nervously, trying to be a little more assertive, at least when Naruto was around.

"Sure, Ayame-chan and Teuchi-san seemed nice," Sakura said, "lets go back there." Naruto was excited about going, but he couldn't stop thinking about what Anko was saying.

* * *

They walked to the ramen stand, without saying much, until Naruto noticed they were being followed. He looked behind him; he saw an odd section of the wall. He stopped, just staring at it. It lowered a little bit, and he saw Konohamaru. Konohamaru noticed he was being looked at, and quickly pulled the fake wall back up.

"Naruto why did you stop?" Sakura asked when she noticed he stopped moving. He pointed to where Konohamaru was, causing both Sakura and Hinata looked to see the poorly drawn, and sideways, fake wall sheet. "Um… what is that?" she asked as Naruto walked towards it.

He made it right in front of the sheet, then knelt down in front of it. The sheet lowered slowly, and Konohamaru came face-to-face with Naruto. "WAHHH!" he screamed as he realized Naruto was only a few inches away.

"Konohamaru, what are you doing out this late. You have to go home, it starts to get dangerous around this time." Naruto said, speaking from experience, "And in this horribly made disguise. Why are you following us?" Naruto finished.

Konohamaru grinned. "I've been trying to find you, boss! I finally found you at the court thing, so I followed you!"

"Oh, well that's fine, but you gotta go home. I'm sure Ojii-san is worried about you, Konohamaru." Naruto said, but Konohamaru shook his head.

"No, he said I could come see you!" he said, but Naruto just stared at him.

"Really?" Naruto asked, continuing his stare.

Konohamaru averted his eyes, "y-yeah!"

Naruto shook his head. "You're lying, Konohamaru. Go home."

"Aw, come on! Just let me hang out with you guys for a little bit! Ebisu-sensei keeps trying to make me study, but it's so boring!" Konohamaru begged, looking at Naruto with pleading eyes.

"Not falling for that." Naruto said, so Konohamaru turned his eyes to Sakura and Hinata.

Just then, Naruto's stomach started to hurt. His hairs stood on end, and his body was telling him to run. "Hinata, Sakura-chan, something bad is about to-" was the last thing he said before two people landed behind them. There was a big bald guy, and an average sized woman with long red hair. The big guy had a giant hammer, and the smaller woman had a ninja blade. They were both dressed in Konoha ninja uniform.

'NO!' Naruto shouted mentally, and dashed forward, to reach Hinata and Sakura before anything happened. He grabbed them by the back of their shirts, and threw them behind him. Half an instant later, a hammer smashed where Hinata was, and a sword where Sakura was.

"He almost didn't make it, nee-chan." The big one commented.

"I know, I saw! It would have been boring if he was too late, though. It's better to watch them struggle!"

"Someone get Konohamaru out of here! Go get Anko-sensei or Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto ordered, and stared the two unknown ninja's down with the same intensity he used against Neji.

"Aw, how cute!" the woman squeaked, blushing a bit, "this one's making me feel all tingly! Been a while since I've been this excited!" and shivered a little, smiling perversely.

"Do you want to take this one home too, nee-chan?" the big one asked, turning to look at the woman.

"Yes! Definitely! We might have to get rid of someone else, though. Our little home is getting awfully crowded…"

Hinata was beside Naruto at that moment, staring at the woman with a similar intensity to Naruto. "Ooh, this one too! Maybe we should just take the lot of them?" she said, blushing even more and shivering again.

"Maybe we should, nee-chan. We have to catch them first though." The big one said, watching as Sakura walked up beside Naruto as well.

"Naruto, we can't let you fight these perverts alone! Who knows what they are planning to do to you if the win!" she said, and took out a kunai.

"I know," Naruto said, growling slightly, "that's why you have to leave! I can't allow anything happen to you, Konohamaru or Hinata!"

"We won't let anything happen to you, Naruto-kun!" Hinata said firmly, not a stutter to be found in her voice, "We won't leave!" She took up her family stance, activating her byakugan.

'dammit… I don't think I have enough chakra to make too many clones (Naruto hasn't eaten since this morning, he has had the strain of the Kyuubi transformation, and having those chakra cuffs on for a half hour messes with your chakra flow)!' Naruto thought, and made 4 clones around them.

"Oooooohuhuhuhu, did you see that! He can make clones! After we train him… can you imagine all of the possibilities?" the woman asked to no one in particular, drooling slightly and squirming around in place.

"I won't let you lay one finger on Naruto-kun!" Hinata said aggressively at the woman.

The woman swung her sword upwards, as if she was slicing Hinata up the middle from a distance. "**Be careful how you talk to me, bitch,"** the woman said malevolently, "**or you'll ruin my good mood."**She closed her eyes, calmed her self, then reexamined Naruto, his 2 clones, Hinata and Sakura. She tilted her head to one side, and said, "Hey! Naruto-kun! Where'd your other two clones go?" she asked, but Naruto said nothing.

The two clones had taken Konohamaru away, and went to find someone who would help. The two mysterious ninja's had originally come for Konohamaru, but Naruto and Hinata had taken precedence now. "Well, we should hurry and catch them before they all run away, nee-chan!" the bigger one said, and raised his hammer, and rested it on his shoulder.

"I know! Alright, lets go!" she said, then dashed towards Sakura. Two clones tackled into her. Hinata saw her chance, and dashed to the trapped woman, but was forced to take evasive actions as the bigger man smashed his hammer down in front of her.

"Not so fast, little girl." She looked at the man, and jumped backwards. The woman had gotten free… she missed her chance. She turned her attention back to the man, and lunged at him. She attacked with a juken strike, but he blocked with his hammer. "I know about your family. You won't catch me that easily."

Naruto was standing in front of the woman, still releasing all the killer intent he could muster. "Yes, just like that! That look is just irresistible, Naruto-kun!" she shouted, then dashed to him, slashing sideways at him. He ducked under it, and jump-head butted her chin. "Oww, that hurt!" she groaned, taking a step back and rubbing her chin, "If you try that again, I might kill you on accident! Just give up; I'll treat you real nice."

She looked at Sakura, who threw a kunai at the big guy. It was an explosive kunai, and she threw it when Hinata was away from the man. The explosion went off, and she saw her brother fall to the ground. "You bitch!" she screamed, and charged Sakura again.

Sakura no longer had anyway to protect herself, but before she was cut down, Naruto shoulder tackled Sakura out of the way. The women pulled back her sword at the last second, but not in time to prevent Naruto from getting slashed in the face. The cut went from his bottom right cheek to the left of his left eyebrow, cutting his eye along the way. "AARGH!" he shouted, and held his eye.

"Oops. Sorry, but you shouldn't have done that. I really wanted to take you in intact, and with both of your eyes," the long red-haired woman said in a pouting tone. She would have continued, but a well placed juken strike caused her heart to take an excessive amount of damage. She coughed up blood, and collapsed.

Hinata deactivated her byakugan, and rushed to Naruto. "Naruto-kun! Are you okay?" Hinata asked, kneeling down to the collapsed blonde. He writhed for a few seconds, then moved his hand. His eye was back to normal, but had a scar going up towards the top left. "Y-yeah. I'm- Hinata!" he started, but shouted as he saw the bigger ninja behind her with his hammer poised to strike. He hit Hinata in the back of her head, and she fell unconscious. "NO!" he screamed, and got up, but wasn't able to avoid the hammer to the stomach he got from the bigger man.

Naruto collapsed, and the man walked up to Sakura and grabbed her by the head, lifting her up in the air. A sharp pain went through the mans leg, and he threw Sakura down to the ground as Naruto stabbed into his leg with a kunai. "EEEK!" Sakura shouted as she hit the ground.

The man smashed his hammer down on Naruto's left arm, breaking it, and started walking back towards Sakura. He felt his leg snag on something, and looked down. It was Naruto, holding on to his pants with his right arm. "I… won't let you…" Naruto wheezed, and held on tight.

The struggling Naruto held on, trying desperately to keep him from Sakura, so he smashed the hammer down on his face. Naruto held on, though, so the man kept smashing. Warm blood splashed on Sakura's face as Naruto's arm fell limp to the floor. Sakura couldn't do anything but cry as the man smashed the hammer down for the final time. "Now where were we?" he said as he begun walking towards Sakura.

"You were right about dead," Anko replied from behind the giant, and four snakes injected a more than lethal amount of poison into the man's neck. He crashed to the floor, and there was a slight quake. Anko looked to Sakura, then to Hinata, and then Naruto.

She knelt down to him. He had been hit in the face a few times, but most of the hits were to his chest. His chest was looking a little funny, so she lightly put her hand on it. It was completely caved in. Her eyes widened in panic. She put he head down over his face. He wasn't breathing. She figured pumping his chest would be a bad idea right now. She felt his neck. "… no pulse…" she whispered, staring into his blood-stained face. She lowered herself until her face was above his. Tears that weren't Naruto's streamed down his cheeks. "…no…not…" Anko choked out as her forehead protector rested on his other cheek.

Author's box

* * *

Yeah, badass chapter ending. You were all probably waiting for him to kyubify, right? Nope. I would also like to explain what happened to Asuma. He was heading to Naruto earlier, but he felt the chakra disappear before he got there, so he figured everything was fine. I didn't want to put it in the actual story, cause it seemed to just mess with the scenes flow. The only reason I put him there in the first place, was because it would be strange if Asuma didn't try to get to Naruto, when Kakashi did. Ino's memory loss will be explained, later on. Probably much later on. Kakashi also claims to have been there in time to see the villager die, but he only shows up after it happens. Jounin tend to not like to make themselves known right away, and he was observing the situation before he approached Kurenai. that's all for now, so please leave your comments. If there are no comments, that means no one likes it enough to review. 


	5. used to hold a snippet of ch 4 VOID

VOID


	6. 05 Reality

I used to have the rights to say that I used to own the rights to Naruto, but lost them in a poker game, but I have been informed by the federal government that any implying that I once owned anything of value is against the law. I now live in a cardboard box under the freeway, and my only possession is a library card. That is how I write now, every day at the library.

So, yeah, chapter 5 is here, and it means business. It's kicking names and taking ass… well, alright, maybe it's not _that _awesome, but still, it doesn't suck… well… dammit, just read the damn thing, why are you listening to me anyway!

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"So, Ino," Ami started as they walked home from Naruto's execution hearing, "you really don't remember anything? None of what I've told you seems familiar?" she finished, as she has just re-explained their entire day.

"I don't remember, but I still don't understand why you won't stop bullshitting me. How on earth could I ever, _EVER_, be attracted to Naruto like that? It's impossible," Ino stated as if she told someone 2+2 does not equal 6. She could never believe she would act so… well, horny, by the sounds of it. And for Naruto, no less.

"You can ask Ayame-san, she thought it was adorable. She'll tell you exactly what I have, though." Ami told her as they walked to their homes (for convenient plot purposes, they live close to each other).

"I just don't under-" she stopped, and felt her voice choke up in her throat.

"Ino? What's wrong?" Ami asked, with obvious concern.

Ino tried to explain how she was fine, but nothing but sobs came out. She felt her eyes heat up, and she couldn't feel anything but a searing, splitting pain in her heart. Tears streamed down her confused face, and she fell to her knees and choked out one sob after another.

"Ino! What're you… what happened?" Ami asked, not sure what could have possibly happened to cause her to break down so severly.

* * *

"Ayame, honey, could you grab me Naruto-kun's special ingredients from the top shelf?" Teuchi asked his daughter, who had been cleaning the back room, "He should be here soon! he missed lunch, and I know he'll come by for dinner. I wanna make him something special for all the trouble he's been through today!" They had left immediately after Naruto's trial, and rushed home, wanting to have ramen ready for him when he got there.

"Alright dad. Top shelf right?" she asked, getting up on a stool as he started the stove for the ramen.

"Yeah," he answered, poking his head into the doorway, "right there," he finished, pointing to the top box.

"It's-it's stuck!" she grunted as she pulled she stopped for a second, then gave it a sharp pull. It came out, and she fell. "AHHH!" she screeched as she fell. She fell into the wall, then slid to the floor. "Owowowow… that hurt…" she said, then looked up to her father. He smiled, and offered her a hand. Her eyes widened as she saw something caught on fire on the stove. "Dad!" she yelled, and pointed to the fire.

He turned around, and grabbed what it was, with two wooden spoons, and threw it into the sink and turned the water on. After the fire was doused, he examined what it was that had burnt. "Man… it was the picture we took with Naruto." Teuchi said, staring at the burnt remainders of one of their most treasured pictures. Oddly, him and his daughter were left only slightly singed, but Naruto was burnt completely out of the picture.

"You… don't think it might be a bad omen or anything, do you?" Ayame wondered, poking her head over his shoulder.

"Naw, of course not. Naruto is tough, he's just fine…" Teuchi reassured his daughter, not wanting to worry her, even though was really worried about Naruto himself.

* * *

"We're almost there, Konohamaru. Right around the corner, right?" Naruto asked the captured academy student.

"Yeah…" he muttered, obviously still upset that his idol didn't let him help.

"Why didn't you let me help, boss? Those guys looked scary, and you guys would need help!" he complained, still unsatisfied, or un-accepting of the answer of 'you're too young'.

"Iruka-sensei?" the clone asked, seeing his old sensei walking down the street.

"Naruto? What's going on?" he asked as he approached the two kids.

"It's bad, Iruka-sensei! We need help, they got us a—" the clone was able to finish, before coughing up blood and disappearing. Konohamaru, now without anyone holding him, fell to the ground. They both just stared at the space where he had been, then at the blood stain on the floor from what the clone coughed up.

"Iruka-sensei… is that bad?" Konohamaru asked, unfamiliar with clones.

"Yes… it's very bad. Where is Naruto?" Iruka asked, with a sudden strong urge to go check on his former student.

"Um… he's over near… well, I don't know," Konohamaru admitted, unable to remember where they were, as he had used all his focus on staying hidden from Naruto (with the fake wall), "but I can show you!"

"All right," Iruka said, and grabbed Konohamaru underneath his arm, "let's go!" and they jumped off in the direction Konohamaru pointed.

* * *

"He's… Anko-sensei, he's fine, right?" Sakura asked the sobbing Jounin, in complete disbelief that anything could go wrong. Anko sat up, still crying, and moved to Hinata. She checked Hinata to see if she was still breathing. She was.

"Anko-sensei? Naruto's… he's still…" Sakura tried to ask, but couldn't quite complete a question, as the reality of what happened was starting to hit her.

She felt tears escaping her eyelids once again. She had stopped crying when Anko had arrived, as she assumed everything would be fine from then on. She was mistaken, as the damage had already been done. Who know's where the perverts were planning on taking them, or doing, but that was just a threat. A reason to beat them. A losing penalty. But now… there was nothing that could be done. There was no chance of beating an enemy, or winning anything. No matter what they did…

They sat there, just crying for a moment, then Sakura got up. She moved over to Naruto, then knelt down into the blood pooling around him, her tears still flowing uninhibited. She looked at his chest, then placed her hand on it gently. She could feel it. The destruction that… she looked up to his face, and saw the deep scar along his face. '…it's… my fault… if… if I had…' she thought, then her mind wouldn't function anymore. She had stopped crying for a moment, and then she begun wailing. She grabbed his jacket tightly in her fists, and wailed into his shoulder. She could smell the heavy odor of his blood, and cried harder.

* * *

"They're right over there!" Konohamaru declared from under Iruka's arm, and pointed over to an area of the street with a few bodies littered through the road, and a big scorch mark on the ground.

'It look's like we're a little late, no ones fighting. Is someone injured?' the scarred Chunin thought, as he saw Sakura and Anko kneeling over two of the bodies. That was when he heard Sakura start to wail.

"Huh? Why's she crying? Did someone get hurt?" Konohamaru asked, still unaware what happened. Iruka paled, though, as he could see Hinata besides Anko, and the one Sakura was kneling over was... he could see some blonde hair. The clothes were the same as the clone Naruto sent with Konohamaru as well, but there was no way… That couldn't be Naruto. He could see a pool of blood, not to large, but still a pool, forming around Naruto.

"Where did boss go? I don't see him," Konohamaru commented, then tried to see if Naruto was one of the bodies. Iruka had regained enough sense to know that letting Konohamaru see Naruto as he was would not be a good idea. Iruka turned around, and the pain filed cries of Sakura faded into the wind.

"Wait! Iruka-sensei, where are we going! Naruto was back there! We have to go back and see if he's okay!" Konohamaru hollered and squirmed, trying to get free as Iruka jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Iruka made no response, not trusting his voice to stay one that could reassure Konohamaru.

Two ANBU dropped in front of Iruka. "What are you doing with Hokage-sama's grandson?" the bear masked one asked.

Iruka held him out. "One… one of you… take him home…" he said slowly, trying not to let Konohamaru know anything was wrong. The two ANBU looked at each other for a moment, then the bear took him and brought him home. The cat ANBU looked at him. "It's Na-Naruto. He's… I think he's dead…" The ANBU looked really shocked, even with the mask. "He's over this way…" Iruka said, and led the ANBU to Naruto's body, explaining everything he knew from what Konohamaru told him on the way. It was still in the same place when they got there, but Anko and Sakura had moved. Anko was sitting down and holding Sakura. Anko had stopped crying, her eyes cold and almost lifeless watching Naruto's body, but she was rubbing Sakura's back.

"Uwaaaaah*sob*it was*sob*it was*sob*" she cried out, but never got further than that before bursting out into the wail again. Anko's eyes clicked up to Iruka and the ANBU that had arrived, and stayed there for a moment before looking back down to Naruto's body. The ANBU stepped forward, hesitated for a moment, then continued towards the motionless blonde. She stepped into the blood pooling around him, and knelt to feel his neck. No pulse. She felt his face, and it was cold.

She stayed there for a moment longer than necessary, then got up. She moved to check Hinata. She had a pulse, and she was still warm. The ANBU's hand's glowed green, and she put her hands on the back of her head, then searched several vital points around her body.

After about 10 seconds, she moved to the big ninja, and felt his neck. No pulse. She got up and moved to the fourth body. She knelt next to the female ninja and felt her neck. She reached into her back pouch, took out chakra confining restraints, and shackled the woman. She then turned on her glowing hands, and felt the confined ninja in several vital places, to see if anything was wrong. She stood up, putting her hand on her collar to use the radio in her vest to call someone.

"I need one medical team, friendly Genin has head injury, one prisoner pickup, prisoner has a severely injured heart, and two…" she listed off her report, then paused, looking down towards Naruto, "two body retrievals." The ANBU waited for the 'Roger' that came back from the radio, then shut it off. She stared at Naruto's body for a few moments, then headed off to alert the Hokage. She shushined towards the Hokage tower, remembering her promise to the fourth Hokage.

* * *

Flash back

* * *

"Cat, I don't think I'm making it back," the fourth Hokage started, looking into her animal mask, "so can I ask you a favor?" he asked her, and she stood at attention. He sighed, and continued, "My wife, and my son… keep them safe. I am going to use him to seal the Kyuubi. I know it will cause him some trouble, but he'll be fine, he's my son after all... I told them that he is to be a hero, to everyone in Konoha, but I know what will happen. They won't listen, and he will be hated. I need you to help Kushina protect him; could you protect Kushina as well? Can you do that, Cat?" he finished, and she just stood there for a moment, astounded that he would entrust his family to her.

"I would give my life to protect them, even hadn't you asked. Thank you, Hokage-sama, for honoring me with this mission."

He sighed again, "Not a mission, Cat, a favor. As a friend, not the Hokage… It's time to go, take care of them for me, okay?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama!"

* * *

End flash back

* * *

She broke her promise. Both of them, she let both of them die. She wasn't even there, couldn't even do anything for any of them, father, mother or son. She was unable to complete any part of her promise. She was unable to watch over him constantly of course, she had to sleep (Which she did while he was at school, he wouldn't be attacked severely at school. Before he attended school, though, she slept in his apartment (without his knowledge) when he slept), and she was occasionally sent on missions (the third tried to lower her mission intake, as he knew she watched over Naruto). She suspected that there was a spy, or someone who hated Naruto somewhere in the ANBU, as whenever she was on missions, he was attacked. Never when she was present.

Other ANBU charged with watching over Naruto hated him as well, never actually attacking him, but conveniently missing beatings and such. There was actually a shortage of ANBU, as the third Hokage had executed any he found purposefully allowing Naruto to come to harm for treason. It took them the first 10 years of Naruto's life to get rid of all such ANBU, and replace them so they had enough to accomplish important missions, and still watch over Naruto.

She landed at the Hokage tower, and rushed to his office. "Ma'am, I need to speak with Hokage-sama," Cat explained to the secretary-assistant person.

"He's very busy, what's it about?" the woman asked, looking up from her game of solitaire.

"It's very important. Naruto's dead," Cat replied, but the secretary made no movement. After a moment, a smirk grew on the woman's face, and she allowed her access to the Hokage's office.

She walked into the Hokage's office, and saw him finishing up the days paperwork. "Hokage-sama…" Cat started, but was unable to complete her sentence temporarily.

"What is it, Cat? I wasn't expecting a report from you until next week," The old Hokage said, looking up to her, and folding his hands under his chin.

"Hokage-sama," she started up again, "Naruto has been killed. He was killed in the street by two unknown ninja in Konoha uniform," she said, and the Hokage's hands dropped to the table.

"Cat… was… did you check him, or did someone else tell you."

"I confirmed it my self, sir… He's dead." Cat answered. There was a long silence as Hokage stared at the paper in front of him, not even reading it. He put his right hand up over his mouth, and looked up to the light hanging from the ceiling.

"What of these ninja," he asked, not removing his eyes from the light, "where are they now?" and she snapped out of her self abusing thoughts.

"One was killed by Anko, and the other was severely injured by Hinata, and has been captured."

"And what of the rest of Team 8?" he asked, feebly attempting to keep his thoughts from Naruto.

"Hinata received a blow to the head. Kurenai wasn't there. Anko is uninjured, but she has reverted to a state similar to when she was rescued from Orochimaru's base. Sakura was hysterical and crying a great deal, but I believe she is uninjured as well."

Silence fell back on the room, and Hokage closed his eyes. "Prepare the arrangements for his funeral, Cat. Lets… lets have it ready for the day after tomorrow. There won't be many people… so we won't need… just-just give me a second…" he siad, but couldn't stop thinking about the fucked up hand Naruto had been dealt. He made the best of it, but he was never able to find anything to make him genuinely happy. No one to make him genuinely happy. No family… he had considered Naruto a grandson, but his work kept him to busy to do anything. He was only able to see Naruto once or twice a month, and even then, it felt more like business than a happy meeting.

He wished he could have done more for the boy, but there wasn't much that could be done when the entire village hated him. Getting false information and reports from even trusted ninja, having the village council scaring the villagers with false threats of 'the Kyuubi will kill us and our families', not one family willing and able to take the child (Some having stupid laws and such preventing them from adopting. Such as 'can't adopt if ever accomplished missions of B-rank or higher', or 'can't adopt if income under this number'. These laws were made to protect children from being in a dangerous house, having family dieing in the field or killed for revenge, or from suffering from malnutrition from low income families.)

"Yeah," Hokage started again, "the day after tomorrow. I will announce it tomorrow, and anyone who cared for Naruto will show. There shouldn't be more than 20 people… We'll hold it behind the monument, at 5PM."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Cat answered, then walked out of the room, leaving the Hokage to his thoughts.

* * *

Kurenai arrived at the hospital, and headed to the ER waiting room. She saw Anko and Sakura sitting in two chairs beside one another. "What happened," she asked with well hidden concern in her voice. She always makes sure to keep her emotions controlled, to stay calm in all circumstances. She may seem uncaring at times to people who don't know her very well, but it was most likely this habit of hers.

Sakura looked up to her, her eyes bright red, and her cheeks stained with faded tears. "K-Kurenai-sensei." She said, her voice hoarse and cracking from the strain her wails had caused. She had blood, crusty and dirty, clumped on her legs, shoes and dress. Anko looked up to Kurenai as well, not looking like she really even saw Kurenai, then looked back down.

'She looks exactly like she did when I found her that day…' Kurenai thought as she saw Anko's eyes and expression, along with the way she looked at her.

"Hinata's in there. They should be done in another 15 minutes." Sakura said, looking at the clock hanging on the wall. Kurenai sat next to Sakura, and put her arm around her. Kurenai didn't say anything. She would ask her about everything later. Sakura looked like she had enough crying.

"It was because of me," Sakura admitted without any encouragement, which surprised Kurenai.

"What was because of you?" Kurenai asked, unsure what she was talking about, as only the unknown ninja, Naruto, Hinata and Sakura had been present at the fight.

"Naruto… He's gone because of me. It was because he was protecting me that he got hit… and hit… and… I couldn't even—" Sakura explained, and was beginning to cry again, but Kurenai hugged her. She held Sakura's head to her neck, embracing her petite body with her other arm.

"It wasn't your fault, Sakura. It was mine. I should have went with you. If I had, you wouldn't have had to see that, Hinata wouldn't be in there, and Naruto… that was all my fault, not yours… My fault…"

Kurenai and Anko had decided that they would give the three teens some time alone to bond a little. They figured it was the best thing to do, as Sakura would never seek out Naruto or Hinata, Hinata would never gather the courage to do so on her own, and Naruto would only visit Sakura, but would be rejected. And without their sensei's, they would have been forced to focus on each other, rather than on Kurenai or Anko. That decision would now haunt Kurenai for the rest of her life.

Sakura's sobs quickly quieted, and they eventually separated. They sat in silence, with Kurenai looking at Anko every few minutes, until the head medical ninja came out. "She's fine, now. She wasn't hit too bad, looked like whoever tagged her was holding back. The weapon seemed pretty heavy, with a clean hit he could have easily killed her instantly. She's fine now, though, and should be awake very soon. We will be moving her upstairs, to room 403. You can follow us up there in a minute; we will bring her up after we finish dressing up her wounds, and cleaning the blood," He informed them, waited awkwardly for a moment, then went back into the room.

They sat and waited for the med-ninjas to bring Hinata out. They came out two minutes later, and Kurenai and Sakura got up to follow them. Kurenai looked down at Anko, who hadn't moved since Kurenai arrived. Kurenai moved to her, lightly pulling her arm upwards. Anko looked at her, stood, then followed them to Hinata's room.

The room was one of the best one's the hospital had, reserved only for important people. There was only one bed, but it was almost twice the size of the normal beds. The bed looked really expensive, with nice pillows and blankets. They saw Hinata in the bed, stirring slightly. There were four chairs around the bed, so Kurenai sat Anko down, then Sakura and Kurenai took their own seat.

Hinata stirred for a moment before waking; she looked around to see all but one of her teammates. She sat up, and looked around the room one more time, to make sure she didn't miss him… No, he wasn't there. She tilted her head down, 'of course he's not here', she thought, 'why would he even want to see me outside of team business.'

"Hinata," Kurenai started, readying herself for telling Hinata what happened to Naruto, "Naruto…" she tried, but stopped seeing her smile.

"I-It's okay, it's fine if N-Naruto-kun didn't want to be here."

Kurenai flinched, and her face darkened. "Naruto…" she started again, "Naruto died."

Hinata still had her happy smile on, then frowned after a second. "What?" Hinata asked, then looked to Anko, then to Sakura.

"That big ninja killed him…" Sakura said, looking up to confused pale eyes, "after you were hit from behind, when... I'm sorry, Hinata, it's my fault, I-" she started to blame herself again, but Kurenai stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"No, it was my fault. I should have been watching you three, but I thought you needed time to bond. If I had done my job as your sensei, he wouldn't have… Naruto wouldn't have died. It's my fault Hinata."

Hinata just sat there staring at Kurenai, her brain desperately going over their words to find some other interpretation then what it kept getting. It found none. Her eyes slowly widened as she started to understand what happened. He pupils begun shaking slightly, then her eyes started closing. They closed halfway, then stayed there. A single tear rolled down her right cheek, then she stopped moving completely. Her heard tilted down slightly, and her body slouched forward. She had a dead look in her eyes. The entire change made her look like a statue.

"H-Hinata?" Sakura called, unsure of what just happened. There was no response.

Kurenai reached over and grabbed Hinata's arm. She made no movement. "It's almost like Anko, but she won't even react when I grab her arm. I think… she's gone into a catatonic state…" Kurenai said, letting go over her arm and leaning back in her seat.

"Catatonic? Isn't that when someone stops moving because of an emotional trauma or something?" Sakura asked. She had read a little on it, but it wasn't necessary for school, so she just learned basically what it was.

"Sort of, but it's more like the brain refuses to respond to anything."

A medical ninja walked in. "Is everything satisfactory for our new guest?" he asked, approaching the bed. "Um… hello?" he said, kneeling down in front of the bed to get a better look into Hinata's face. She made no reaction.

"We told her about the death of N…" she started, but was unsure how he would react to hear she fell into this because of Naruto, or what her family might do, "about the death of a loved one, and she stopped moving. I think she's in a catatonic state right now."

The med-ninja's eyes widened as he looked at her. "Really? Wow, I heard of that happening, but it doesn't happen very often. Especially with ninja. I never thought I would actually see it happen, though. Hold on, I'll go get the head medical ninja."

The med-ninja left and Kurenai looked to her three teammates still left. Anko… Hinata… who knows how long it would take to even get them functional again. It took Anko 2 years to come out of it when Kurenai brought her back from Orochimaru's lab. Hinata is in an even worse condition. And Sakura… she might not ever be a ninja again. She has been mentally scarred. She might not be able to get over how Naruto died protecting her. 'it was all because of me; I should have at least followed them…' she thought to her self as she waited for the med-ninja's to come back.

* * *

After Hinata had been officially diagnosed as being in a catatonic stupor, Kurenai took Sakura home, then retired to her own home with Anko. Kurenai had trouble sleeping. Anko did not sleep. Sakura went to sleep, but relived the event of Naruto's death repeatedly in her dreams. She woke up screaming, and didn't go back to sleep. The next morning, Sakura, Kurenai and Anko received a summons from the Hokage. Even though Anko wasn't at a place where she could understand much of what was going on, Kurenai brought her.

"Hokage-sama." Kurenai greeted as she led Anko and Sakura into the room. Hokage was sitting at his desk, looking even older than he did the last time she had seen him. Naruto's death must have really took a lot out of him.

"Good morning Kurenai, Sakura, Anko. This may not be a good time, but I have something to tell Team 8," he said, looking down the papers on his desk, a few of them Kurenai saw Naruto's name on. "Even though there was a fatal casualty, and Hinata was injured, Team 8, without their senseis, captured one B-Rank criminal and heavily wounded another. Your team proved itself, and if Hinata is able to recover, you will be allowed to take on C-rank missions."

"YEAH!" Hokage heard Naruto shout, "One step closer to taking your place, old man!" The Hokage put his hand on the bridge of his nose. 'He's not there…' he thought, as he tried to right himself. He was getting old, and tired. He had buried himself in his work, even more than he normally was, but he had been hearing Naruto's response to things he had been saying all morning. He looked up to the sad and tired looking face of Kurenai. "And until Hinata is able to recover, or other plans are made for you all, Team 8 is put on suspension."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kurenai replied in a subdued tone, and turned to leave, but Sakura spoke up.

"Um, Hokage-sama?" she asked, and he looked to her. "I… I would like to resign from Team 8. I… I don't want to be a ninja anymore."

Hokage just stared at her for a moment, then closed his eyes. "I understand. You have proved yourself as ninja material, though, and if you ever wish to return, there will always be space for you."

Sakura nodded her head, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

Sakura and Kurenai left, taking Anko with them. "It's okay, Sakura," Kurenai assured her after they left, "it's okay that you want to leave. I understand. If you ever need help with what happened, if you want to talk, or even if you just need help with something small, don't hesitate to ask."

Sakura looked at her for a moment, then smiled. "I will. Thank you, Kurenai-sensei." They walked out of the tower, and went to their respective homes.

* * *

Sakura got home, and saw Tenten coming from her house. "Tenten? What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, and Tenten looked up to her.

"Oh, there you are! ... Are you okay? You look horrible." Sakura just looked down; she didn't say anything. 'Okay, maybe some other time,' Tenten thought, then addressed Sakura again. "Do you know where Hinata is? She said she had something important she needed my help with, and that she would call me last night, but she never called. I can't find her, so I thought I could ask you."

"She's…" Sakura started, then averted Tenten's eyes, "in the hospital…"

"What! Why, what happened? Is she alright?" Tenten asked, concerned over this piece of information someone neglected to inform her of.

Sakura's face darkened, "We… we were attacked by some ninja yesterday after… Naruto's… after the court yesterday, we fought these ninja, and Hinata was injured… she was fine, and woke up last night…"

Tenten sighed a breath of relief. "Thank goodness, I thought something happened to her with the way you were acting. Will they let me visit her?" she asked. Sakura shook her head. "You can visit, but she won't respond… she entered a catatonic state last night after… after I told her that Naruto died…" Sakura explained, looking back into Tenten's eyes at the end.

Tenten blinked a few times, and furrowed her brow. "W-What? Naruto what?" Tenten asked, unable to believe what she just heard.

"Naruto died… He's dead! They killed him…" Sakura said, elevating her voice a bit to make sure Tenten got what she said this time. Tenten was just staring at her, mouth open. Sakura looked away, then walked to her house. "You can come inside, and I'll tell you what happened." Tenten stood there for a moment, closed her mouth, then followed Sakura into her house.

"My mom and dad are at work. They normally make the tea, so I haven't had too much practice, but do you want some?" Sakura asked, walking into the kitchen while Tenten sat at the dining room table.

"Y-yes please…" Tenten answered, still trying to grasp what Sakura told her about Naruto.

A minute passed, with out either saying anything, then Sakura brought back tea. She set a cup down in front of Tenten, then one in front of her own seat. Sakura placed the tea pot on the pot holder on the table, then sat down.

"How… how did it happen?" Tenten asked, staring at Sakura intently, ignoring her tea.

"After we left Naruto's trial yesterday," Sakura started, staring into her tea, "we ran into these perverted ninja's. Naruto told us to leave, but we stayed. Maybe we _should_ have just let him fight them alone. They would have took him, but he would still… he would still be alive." Sakura explained, still staring at her tea.

"No, you… you can't do that. If they were perverts, they would be doing horrible things to him right now. You can't beat your self up about the what ifs, you can't—"

"YOU WEREN'T THERE!" Sakura shouted, slamming her hand on the table, "You weren't the one he DIED because of! You weren't the one who just sat and watched as they killed him! You weren't the one who was there, you didn't listen as they smashed his chest in, you didn't hear them crush his ribs!" Sakura continued loudly, staring at the usually sweet and cheerful brunette. She was neither now, though, and could find nothing she could possibly say to console the traumatized kunoichi. She looked down to her tea.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, I didn't mean to… I just was trying to help…" Tenten apologized, her face contorted into one of anguish and sorrow.

Sakura's eyes, ones of anger, crumbled into ones of pain. "I'm sorry Tenten. I wasn't mad at you, I was… it, it's just… it is because of me. (Sakura will be talking as if she is still there, last night) If I'm not so weak, if I would actually try to _defend_ myself… if I can just help while the man is hitting him… but I can't… I just-just sit there, like a-a-a little GIRL… all I can do is CRY! If I even throw something at him, he will stop. He will stop, then… Anko-sensei can get here and then…"

"Sakura," Tenten said, looking at the tormented face of the pink haired kunoichi, "it already happened… you can't change it and you… I'm not really a psychologist, but you won't be able to get over it if you don't move out of that night. You have to let it pass, and move on to the next day."

Sakura looked at Tenten like she was going to yell again, but she stopped. She looked back down to her tea. "…I know… I know, but every time I close my eyes… I can hear and see… I relive it every time I close my eyes…" Sakura said, and Tenten realized that Sakura had blinked very few times while she was here. She doesn't look like she got any sleep, either.

"Maybe you should get some help with it," Tenten suggested, trying to change the course of Sakura's thoughts, "Kurenai-sensei should be able to get someone to help you with what happened."

"No," Sakura said fimly, sounding dark and desolate, "It was my fault. I don't deserve any help with it. I'll live with this," she continued, putting her right hand to her chest, "because _that's_ what I deserve. And when the pain goes away, or starts to fade, I'll kill myself and ask Naruto for forgiveness."

Tenten's eyes widened at Sakura's life plan. "No, Sakura, you can't- you can't live like that! It was because of those ninjas that Naruto died! Not you, how do you not see that!"

Sakura looked up to her apathetically. "I thought you were going to go see Hinata."

Tenten stared at her for a moment, then stood up. "Yeah, I was… I'll talk to you later, after you can think rationally again." She left, giving Sakura one last glance before leaving the house.

Sakura stared at her un-sipped tea for several seconds, then went upstairs.

* * *

The rest of the day passed by without incident, save for Hokage's 'Naruto is dead, and a funeral will be held behind the monument' announcement. Many celebrated and cheered: very few mourned.

The closed coffin funeral was held the next day, at 5PM. Sakura did not show, as she believed he wouldn't want to see her before he moved on. Kurenai, an unresponsive Anko, Tenten, Shikamaru, Choji, Asuma, Ino, Kiba, Shino, Kakashi, Lee, Guy, Konohamaru and his crew (Moegi and Udon), Iruka, Ayame, Teuchi, Ami, Sakura's mom and dad (because Kurenai had told them Naruto died protecting Sakura), and the Hokage attended the funeral (including Cat, and several other ANBU who would have attended had they not been ANBU. They watched the funeral to make sure no Naruto hating people would try and ruin it). The Hokage spoke for Naruto, as did Iruka and Teuchi. The Hokage said the prayers as they buried him. There was no rain, or thunderstorms during the funeral, nor where there any that night, when Ino awoke to someone calling to her.

Ino sat up in her bed. She turned her bedside lamp on and looked around, seeing no one in her room. "…" Ino just sat there, then her ears perked up and she looked to her window. It was so dark that night that she couldn't see anything except a few lights on the Hokage tower… and a strange glow on what she knew to be the Hokage monument. "!" she heard it again, an unintelligible sound, barely audible. She stared at the light for a moment more, then got out of bed. She took off her pajamas, and got into her casual 'around the house' clothes. She grabbed her ninja tool pack, just incase, and headed for the monument.

She left as quietly as possible, as she had to get to the monument quickly; a father waking up and questioning you takes away precious time. She left, jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards her destination, trying to get there as fast as she could. She looked up to the sky every so often, and the glow was still there, very faint.

She made it to the monument, but was stopped by an ANBU. "What are you doing here." The cat masked ANBU asked, in more of a command than a question. 'this girl was at the funeral. She seemed very upset there… Why could she possibly be here?' Cat thought, staring at the heavily winded blonde, 'the Yamanaka main house is on the other side of Konoha, isn't it?'

"I *pant* have to *pant* get up there *pant*," Ino wheezed, trying to finish this as soon as she could.

"Why? What do you need on the monument?" Cat asked as Ino tried to catch her breath.

"I… I don't know *pant*…" and Cat's eyebrow raised behind her mask, "but I have to *pant* get up there!"

Cat just stared at her. ''I don't know?' What is she up to?' she thought, staring at her a moment longer before speaking. "Fine, but I will escort you."

Ino looked relieved, she worried that she might have been denied. "Okay! Lets go!" Ino declared to herself, then raced past Cat, and up the stairway built into the side of the monument.

They made it to the top, and headed through a thick patch of trees that led to Naruto's grave. The call Ino heard was getting louder, but still indistinguishable. Ino and Cat headed towards Naruto's grave, and Ino saw it. Ino stepped closer, and saw the earth Naruto was buried under pulsate with a red glow. She could hear it clearly now. The red chakra swirled together, and formed an image of Naruto over the grave. The red Narut held it's hand out to Ino. "Help me!" the voice called to her, and only her.

Author's box

* * *

… I… I don't really know what to say after that chapter. This one isn't as long, but I didn't really know how to do a funeral scene, so I kinda skipped it. I then got lazy, and pretty much said, "whatever, they get it, shit's fucked up." Leave any complaints, comments, compliments, and concerns in the form of a review, if you'd please. I would tell you how reviews are to me are how cookies are to cookie monster, but I think you should be able to tell from every session of "Author's box" before this one, that they are important to me. Once again, though, more/better reviews=more/better/faster chapters. 


	7. 06 Renewed

Okay, apparently, owning a library card is also illegal for me, and that has been taken. I am now breaking into people's homes to type this story, and saving it on my flash drive. Don't ask me where I hid it.

Your responses for my last chapter really made me write this chapter. I was getting lazy, and this chapter was harder than it should have been for no apparent reason, then I read your comments. My flames of youth ignited, and I 'wrote like the wind'. It was still a little difficult, but my next chapter will be easier… unless the accent for one of the characters in my next chapter causes me issues…

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"Help… me!" the chakra form called to her again.

"Naruto! I'm here!" she screamed, and ran towards Naruto's grave.

"Naruto?" Cat mumbled, confused as to what Ino was talking about. 'Is she hallucinating?' Cat thought, then followed Ino to Naruto's grave. Ino had reached the grave, grabbing into the air above the grave (Cat can't see it, but the chakra whirls around Ino, then pulls into the ground). She started to panic, then pulled out a kunai and started digging into the grave.

Cat stepped forward and grabbed Ino's shoulder, "What are you doing."

Ino looked back to her with tear filled eyes. "HE NEEDS MY HELP! He's in pain, I need to get him out of there!" she snapped, then turned back to digging into the grave.

Cat closed her eyes, shook her head, and was about to remove Ino from the grave, when she felt something. A slight twinge of something very familiar. She concentrated, and it was very clear now. It was Naruto's chakra. Her eye's widened behind her mask, and she looked down to the grave.

'Im…impossible! He was… I checked him myself!' she thought to her self, then pulled Ino away from the grave.

"Didn't you hear me!" she snarled, "He needs my…" but stopped as Cat's hands went into a flurry of seals. The ground shook, then split open; they could see Naruto's grave at the bottom, then another set of seals raised the coffin to the surface. Ino immediately attacked the side of the coffin, trying to pry it open with her kunai. Cat pulled out her ninja blade, and used it (like a crowbar) to help open the lid. It opened very quickly, and Naruto popped out of it, coughing, and gasping.

"WAAAAAH!" Ino cried out loudly, then latched onto Naruto, squeezing him so hard he might have ended up in another coffin had she been allowed to continue.

"In…o… can't… breath!" he gasped, and she let go.

"S-Sorry!" she gasped, stared at him for a moment, then crushed him again, crying loudly one more time.

"Uzumaki Naruto…why are you still alive? You had your chest crushed in, you had no pulse, and your heart and lungs had been completely destroyed."

Ino loosened her death grip, and Naruto was able to breath. "I… I don't know, the same way I always have, I guess. My bones heal after about a day, so maybe my heart and stuff does too."

Cat just stared at him, then walked up and felt his chest. "Uwah! Wha-what are you doing!" he asked loudly, jumping back a little.

She pulled away, looking at her hand. 'His chest feels absolutely normal…' she thought, staring at him for a moment.

"Okay," Cat said, "I'm gonna need to take the both of you to Hokage-sama." She stepped forward, and Ino held to Naruto protectively. She reached out with her hands, grabbed both of them, and shunshined to the Hokage tower.

* * *

There were very few people working in the Hokage tower so late at night, basically just Hokage, his assistant, and ANBU guards. They made it to the secretary, the same one as last time, once again playing solitaire. "I need to speak with Hokage-sama," Cat told her, causing the woman to look up.

"About what? He has a lot of…" but stopped dead when she looked at the people Cat brought with her.

"Naruto's back," Cat explained, smiling under her mask. This woman was pleased when she heard of Naruto's death, and it was quite an enjoyable experience to watch her reaction now. "Follow me, you two," Cat said, and both teens followed her into the Hokage's office. "Hokage-sama, sorry to intrude, but I have someone you have to see." The three of them filled into his office; the Hokage looked to Naruto, then to Ino.

"Why have you brought Ino here, at this time of night?" he questioned her, looking at the little clock on his wall, 12:52.

"No, ojii-san, I think she means me," Naruto replied, but Hokage ignored him.

Cat cocked her head to the side slightly, then looked at Naruto. "No, sir, it's Naruto. He is alive."

Hokage just stared at her, unblinking. 'No, he's not really there. Now I am even hearing things from people other than Naruto.'

"Hokage-sama?" Cat asked as the Hokage looked down to the pipe he hadn't touched since he heard Naruto died.

"You aren't real…" Hokage mumbled out loud, and looked up to Cat, "this is a cruel joke to play on an old man," he finished, then waved them off.

"No, Hokage-sama, Naruto has revived himself. The Ky… his healing abilities seem to have fixed all of the damage done to him on that night."

"Yeah, see?" Naruto said while holding out his hand to the Hokage.

Hokage looked up to his hand, and got up. He stared at Naruto for several long moments, then walked towards the smiling blonde. He reached his hand slowly, hesitated, then grabbed it. His eyes widened, and he almost fell backwards. He had completely expected to just phase through the hand, then Cat, Naruto, and Ino would disappear.

"See? I'm fine!" Naruto said, grinning wide at the old man.

"You… you-you really are… you're still alive…" Hokage rambled slowly, hoping that if it was a dream, he could make it last just a little longer.

"Yes. I was on guard duty for Naruto's grave, lest it be desecrated, when I spotted Yamanaka Ino rushing towards the monument. She told me she needed to get there, so I escorted her to Naruto's grave. When we arrived, she knew he was still alive, and attempted to dig him up. We extracted his coffin, discovering he was, in fact, still alive. I have no idea how she could have known, but she did." Cat turned to Ino.

"Well… I woke up to someone calling to me. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but I knew I had to get to Naruto. There was also a glowing on top of the monument. When I got there, there was all this red stuff coming from the ground, then it turned into Naruto and he called out to me, he said 'help me!'" Ino explained.

The Hokage sighed through his nose, looked to Naruto, then smiled weakly. "Do you know how much trouble you're causing this old man? First you go and die on me, then you come back like nothing happened…" he said, then placed his hand on the resurrected blonde's shoulder, "do you know how much paper work this will take to fix? Couldn't you have just stayed alive in the first place? Troublesome teenagers…" Hokage finished.

Naruto laughed, and hugged him. "I wish I could have stayed alive too, dying hurts!" he said cheerfully.

Hokage hugged him for a moment longer, then pulled back. "Well, I should get a jump on this load of paper work you just caused me: everyone's really upset about what happened, Naruto, you should go see them if they aren't sleeping already. I will announce your return tomorrow."

Naruto smiled, then they left. "What was he talking about when he said everyone was upset I died?" Naruto asked Ino.

"Yeah… well, the Genin teams 7 through 10, Hokage-sama, the Hokage's grandson and his friends, Ami, Sakura's parents, Ayame-san, Teuchi-san, and Iruka-sensei; they all went to your funeral. Sasuke, Neji, Sakura and Hinata were they only Genin who didn't go. Sakura was really upset, and she said something about you not wanting to see her when you left, and Hinata's in the hospital. Sasuke-kun's in the hospital too, but he said he wouldn't go anyway, and Neji-kun just refused."

Naruto's face twisted up in confusion as he walked, trying to figure why that many people would go to his funeral. "I think we should go visit Kurenai-sensei and Anko sensei first." Ino declared, looking to Cat, then Naruto, "Anko was doing this weird 'not responding to anything' thing, and maybe seeing you alive will fix it. Hinata's doing it too, but she has Hyuuga body guards right now and we won't be able to see her without your sensei."

Cat cocked her head to the side. "Am I being included in these plans?"

Ino smiled. "You seemed worried about Naruto, so you must be alright. And you haven't left already, so you might as well, right?"

Naruto looked at her. She looked back at him, but he just kept staring. He leaned towards her, and sniffed her. "Eww, Naruto, what are you doing? That's gross!"

Naruto backed up, staring at her moment longer before speaking. "You smell familiar. I used to… I could smell you a lot when I was little. Like, in my house when I woke up."

'Fuck.' She thought, 'I didn't think he could smell me. He wasn't supposed to know I was there. I guess I relaxed because he was a child.'

She just stared back at him for a moment, then shunshined away. "What was that?" Ino asked, staring at where the ANBU was.

"I don't know, but I remember her scent, it was in my house sometimes… Well, are we still going?" Naruto said, turning to face Ino.

"Yeah, lets go!" she shouted, and they headed to their first destination.

* * *

Three what-are-the-police-doing-at-my-door sounding knocks echoed through the quiet house of Yuuhi Kurenai and Mitarashi Anko. There was no answer, and after several seconds, Ino knocked again, three times, slightly louder. A few seconds passed quietly, then a horrible looking Kurenai opened the door. "What do yo—" she started, but her eyes widened as she gasped. A metallic clang was heard, the sound of her hidden kunai falling from her hand.

"Yeah, I sort of found him in the graveyard, so I figured I'd bring him by," Ino explained cheerfully, but went unheard by Kurenai.

The stunned Jounin shook her self from her dumbfounded state, and put her hands together. "KAI!" she shouted, but nothing happened.

"What… what are you doing, Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto asked, as he was never taught about how to dispel genjutsu.

Kurenai blinked several times, then did it again. "KAI!" Once again, nothing happened.

She stared at him for a moment, then stepped up to him and grabbed his face and pulled. "Owowowow, what are you doing!" Naruto whined as he tried to pull away from her.

She let go. 'Is it… how can it really be him?' Kurenai thought, staring at a pouting Naruto as he rubbed his cheeks.

"Anyway, I'm still alive because of…" he said, then glanced at Ino, "because of my healing abilities. It fixed me, and I woke up in that coffin, underground."

Kurenai looked at him a moment longer, then motioned for them to come in; they walked into her dining room, directly connected to the front door, and Kurenai picked up the fallen kunai before leaving them in the dining room.

They looked at each other for a moment, then sat down at the table in the middle of the room. Naruto looked around; there were three small bookshelves directly across from him. One was full of pink and red books, which he could tell from some of the more erotic titles on the binding, were 'romance' books. The next shelf contained thicker books that appeared to be psychology books. He was beginning to examine the third shelf, when he heard Kurenai enter the room. He looked up to see Kurenai leading Anko by the arm into the kitchen. She brought Anko right up to Naruto, and sat her down in a chair in front of him.

"Anko, Naruto's here to see you," Kurenai explained, placing her hands soothingly on her sister's back, then lifting her face up to Naruto's. Naruto looked into her emotionless eyes curiously.

"What's wrong with Anko-sensei?" Naruto asked, and Kurenai felt her twitch as he finished talking.

"Naruto, keep calling to her; talk to her," Kurenai said with a hopeful smile on her face.

"Huh? O-oh, okay… Anko-sensei? Can you hear me? I came to see you… is this working? Anko-sensei! Hello, Anko-sensei?" Naruto called to her, and Kurenai felt her twitch three more times, every time Naruto said 'Anko-sensei', each time a little stronger.

"Her eyes are moving now." Naruto informed.

"Good, good, keep calling her, keep calling her Anko-sensei!" Kurenai said, excitement making it's way into her usually calm voice.

Naruto shrugged. "Anko-sensei! Hey, Anko-sensei, wake up! Anko-sensei, Anko-sensei, Anko-sensei! Are you listening Anko-sensei?" Anko reached her hand up, and grabbed the side of Naruto's face, rubbing her thumb along his recently acquired scar. Kurenai was smiling ear to ear as Anko said, "…He called me sensei…" and started crying.

"H-hey! I-I only did it cause Kurenai-sensei told me too! I'm sorry!" Naruto apologized, but Anko pulled him into a hug.

"Idiot." Anko said as she crushed him with a hug that could break boulders. Right before the point came where Naruto might need another coffin (for the second time that night), he heard a demonic noise from Anko's throat.

"ZZZZZZ" Anko snored, sounding like nothing Naruto or Ino had ever heard before.

"Oh my god," Ino gasped, holding her chest, "I thought your house was possessed for a second!"

Kurenai laughed, "No, she always snores like that when she's tired… she hasn't slept at all for the past three days. Thank you, Naruto."

Naruto smiled shyly as he scratched the back of his head. "W-well… I didn't really do anything…"

Kurenai picked Anko up like one would a child who fell asleep, and you were bringing them to their bed. "It's okay to accept a compliment, Naruto. Especially when you deserve it."

Naruto and Ino watched as Kurenai brought Anko back where she came from. "You really did help, Naruto," Ino assured him after they were gone, "she was like that every time I saw her. Granted that I only saw her, like, twice, but still!"

Naruto looked back to where Kurenai had left, and saw her walking back into the room. "Well, I'm gonna leave Anko a note for incase she wakes up, then we should go see Sakura. She's blaming herself for you dying, Naruto, and she's lying to me. She keeps telling me she's fine with what happened, but I can tell something's wrong. We should go to her before she does anything drastic."

"How is it her fault?" Naruto asked, confusion making it's way into his voice, "It was the big dude with the hammer that killed me, right?" Naruto finished as Kurenai was writing the note

she shook her head. "I know, but maybe hearing you say it will make it stick in her head…" Kurenai finished her note, then went and left it with Anko, then came back out and they left.

* * *

They reached the Haruno house, and Naruto raised his hand to knock on the door, but Kurenai grabbed it. "What?" he asked, flinching when she suddenly grabbed his hand.

"Hold on, Naruto… maybe only you should talk to her. Me and Ino would only get in the way; she might not say everything if we are there."

Naruto tilted his head to the side. "Oh, that makes sense. Okay, when I come back out, we can go see Hinata."

Kurenai nodded her head, then took Ino with her up to a roof on the other side of the street. "What! So we just have to wait here until they're done? That's boring," Ino complained, expressing her distaste for the plan.

"Deal with it." Kurenai said with finality, and pulled out one of her red books from her ninja pouch.

"…So… What's that book about?" Ino asked, scooting towards Kurenai.

She smiled, looked at Ino for a second, then handed her the book. "Page 125, line 24." she said, and Ino flipped to that page.

Knock knock knock. Naruto knocked on the door, and waited for a response. Nothing happened, so Naruto knocked again. After about 10 seconds, Sakura's father opened the door. "Who is at my door at this hour!" he demanded, and Naruto raised his hand.

"Um, I heard Sakura-chan is having some trouble with me dying, so I came to see her." Naruto said, not realizing that he forgot to add the part about him coming back to life. This, of course, will cause people to think you are a ghost or something, and completely freak out.

"UWAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed, then slammed the door. Naruto was left looking very confused. He looked up to where Kurenai was, but he only saw the backs of hers and Ino's head. Naruto turned back to the door, and knocked three more times. There was no answer. He was about to jump up to where Kurenai was, but the door opened. Sakura was standing there.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted, smiling at her and putting his hands behind his head. "I know it's kinda late, but I thought I would come and see you!" Naruto continued, not realizing that it was the fact that he didn't mention he was revived that her father had screamed and slammed the door on him.

Sakura nodded her head darkly, and left the door open as she led him up stairs. Naruto followed her, shutting the door behind him, and saw Sakura's parents cowering in the living room.

Naruto followed Sakura up to her room, and she opened the door for him. He walked in, and sat down on the floor. He looked around, and saw she had a dresser with a big mirror on it. 'And it's not broken!' he thought to himself. There were a few bookcase's full of thick books on her other wall. He looked to her bed, and Sakura sat down on it.

"So… you came back to punish me?" she asked knowingly, looking darkly down to him.

"Huh? Why would I do that?" he said, cocking his head to one side.

She mimicked his action, unconsciously. "What do you mean 'why'? You died because of me! If I even tried to help you, you would have lived. If I wasn't so useless, you would still be alive right now," she said, trying to explain why he was supposed to hate her, then looked down at her feet.

"Huh? I am still alive. How else would I be here?" he said, and she whipped her head up to look at him.

"What? What do you mean you're still alive? You're a ghost right now, right?"

Naruto smiled. "Nope. See?" he said while holding his hand out to her. Her face twisted up in anger, and she smacked his hand away.

"DON"T MESS WITH M-" she started, but stopped after she realized she just made contact with him. "You're… how can- but I…" she stumbled, trying to figure out how he was still alive.

"I got special abilities, sort of like a Kekki Genkai, and they can heal me. It can fix broken bones in a day, almost instantly heal flesh wounds, and apparently, they can fix my heart and lungs even if I die."

Sakura was just staring at him, mouth hanging open slightly, "But… but I saw you…"

Naruto nodded his head. "I did die, though, but that wasn't because of you. That wasn't your fault, Sakura; that was those bad guys fault."

Sakura clenched her fists into her dress, which he noticed had some blood on it (She refused to wash it; it was another reminder to her of what she did. She might have eventually got another dress, but she would've hung this one up on her wall, as a constant reminder).

"How… how can you say that? If I wasn't so weak, I could've protected myself against that woman, or at least dodged. Then you wouldn't have been cut in the face, and you wouldn't have been on the floor. You would have been able to get away. And when that man was hitting you… if I did anything other than CRY, if I would have done ANYTHING to help you… anything at all…" Sakura spoke, but stopped as she was starting to cry again.

Naruto frowned, then stood up. Sakura hadn't noticed him as he walked over to her. He knelt down and hugged her, earning a short gasp from the softly sobbing Sakura. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I was trying to protect you, but I only caused you more pain. If I had been stronger, you wouldn't have had to go through this. I'm sorry."

Sakura snuffled, then looked at him; she looked into his eyes, and saw the scar going across his left eye. She started to cry lightly again, and hugged him back as tight as his previous two hugs (Ino and Anko). She stayed like that for a moment, then punched him in the side.

Naruto fell back, holding his side. He looked to Sakura with confused eyes, and she was blushing slightly. "You were getting too comfortable."

Naruto smiled, then stood upright. "So you understand now, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he looked down to her, "What happened to me was because of those bad guys, not you, got it?" she smiled, and nodded. Naruto grinned, and offered her a hand. "Come on, we have to go help Hinata. She's supposed to be sick or something, right?"

"Yeah…" Sakura whispered, then took his hand and pulled herself up. Sakura wiped her eyes, smiled a little wider at Naruto, then led him out of her room. They went down the stairs, and saw Sakura's parents praying on the couch in the living room. "Mom, dad, I'm gonna go out to see Hinata with Naruto. I promise I'll come back soon, but we have to go see her."

"Sa-S-Sakura! Wh-what does Naruto's spirit want with us?" his mom asked, still scared of ghost-Naruto.

"No, he's not a spirit. He came back to life. I'll explain it later, but we have to go, I'll be back." Sakura's mom and dad just looked at each other as Sakura left with Naruto.

"Kurenai-sensei and Ino came with me, but they said I should talk to you alone. They are up there, across the street," Naruto said, pointing up at the roof across from Sakura's house. They jumped up, and saw Ino and Kurenai sitting against a chimney type object. Ino was a deep red, with some steam coming from her head, and Kurenai was reading a red book, giggling. "Kurenai-sensei, I got Sakura. Lets go get Hinata next." Ino looked up to Naruto, blushed a little more, then looked back down.

"Alright: come on, let's go Ino," Kurenai said, smiling at the embarrassed kunoichi.

Ino looked back up to Naruto, blushed harder, then got up. "O-okay." Ino said, then thought, 'How could she possible even suggest… with Naruto, no less… I should have never asked her about that stupid book…' Kurenai giggled as if she could hear Ino's thoughts, then led the three Genin to the hospital.

* * *

"Naruto," Kurenai spoke up as the reached the hospital, "I need you to transform into someone else. It might cause some problems if everyone sees you alive."

"Oh, okay," he said, then transformed into his female-self. "How's this?" he asked in his female-self voice, and she nodded her head.

They walked into the hospital, and approached the front desk. "Excuse me, ma'am," Kurenai said to the woman at the front desk, "I need to see Hyuuga Hinata. I-" she continued, but the woman cut her off.

"Visiting hours are from nine to eight. Come back in about seven hours."

Kurenai's eyebrow twitched. Not many things irritated her, but getting cut off in the middle of a sentence was one of her big pet peeves. She exhaled a restraining breath, and tried again. "I'm her Jounin instructor. She is in a catatonic state, and this young girl will be able to get her out of it," Kurenai explained, gesturing to Naruto. "Hinata believed her to be dead, but that was a miscommunication, and reuniting the two will break Hinata out of it."

The woman just stared at her with a glazed over look in her eyes, then hit a button on her desk. "Sir, can you come out here and talk to these people? They won't leave," she said into the little microphone on her desk.

"Uhhh… Sure, why not," a lazy voice came through the small speaker, then crackled out of existence. The woman looked back at them with an annoyed look on her face, and just stared at Kurenai.

The man came out of a back room, a man Kurenai recognized as the head medical ninja of the hospital, and the same man who diagnosed Hinata the night she went catatonic.

"What seems to be the problem?" the man asked, looking from Kurenai to the woman at the front desk.

"You remember when Hyuuga Hinata fell into her catatonic stupor two nights ago?" she asked, already knowing that he hadn't forgotten something that uncommon after only a day, and the man nodded, "Well, that happened because there was a miscommunication. She thinks this girl here is dead, her best friend, but she was just injured. If we can go up there and have a minute to talk to her, we think we can get her to wake up from it"

The man stared at her, then grabbed his chin in a thinking pose. "Well, I would normally say no… but if she can be revived from her stupor, then I can allow it if I escort you. Alright, follow me," the medical ninja said lazily, and led them to the stairs.

They made it to Hinata's room without any interference, but were stopped by the guards. "Halt! Who goes there? (I've always wanted to say that, but I will settle for this for now)" one of the two Hyuuga guards said.

"There is a possibility that this girl can fix Hinata's condition," Kurenai explained, gesturing to Naruto, "Please let us through."

The guards looked to each other, then the guard on the left spoke up. "I'll go in with you," He said, and he opened the door for them. The doctor and the guard stood towards the back, along with Ino, and Naruto walked towards her bed.

She was lying down, her eyes half closed, and glossy. "Hinata?" Naruto tried, but there was no response. Kurenai gave Naruto a little push towards the bed, so Naruto got closer to her. "Hinata? Can you hear me?" he tried again, putting his hand on her arm. "Hinata, it's me…" Naruto started, then remembered he wasn't supposed to let the guard and the doctor know who he was, so he leaned towards her ear, "it's me, Naruto."

There was no response. "Hold on Naru… Na-Naru-Naruko." Kurenai said, stumbling with her words slightly, then turned to the guard and the doctor. "What Naruko has to say is personal, so do you mind if I put up a silencing genjutsu? Hinata might not wake up otherwise." The guard stared at her for a moment, then nodded his head. She went through a few quick seals, and anything Naruto and Hinata said would not reach anyone but each other.

"Go ahead, we can't hear you." Naruto stared at her nervously, looked back at the guard and doctor, then went back to talking to Hinata.

"Hey, Hinata, Ino kind of seems like a slut, doesn't she?" Naruto said, then turned around, and no one made any reaction. He hadn't really meant it, or even entirely knew what it meant, but that phrase always seemed to get a strong reaction from any girls he saw the word used on. He turned back to Hinata. "Good, they can't hear me," he said, returning his voice to normal. It was kind of weird hearing Naruto's voice come out of 'Naruko's' body, but he figured Hinata might not react if it wasn't his voice.

"It's me, Naruto. They told you I died but I'm still here. They gave me a funeral and everything!" Naruto told her, and her eyes closed all the way. "Um… I kind of don't really now what else to say… but I need you to wake up now, Hinata. We have missions and stuff to do, and we can't do any of that without you." Hinata was moving her eyes slightly beneath the lids, but that was it.

"And, on the way over here, Kurenai-sensei told me that we can do C-rank missions now, isn't that great! We won't be stuck chasing cats all day anymore!" Hinata had stopped moving her eyes, but made no other action. "I would also like to thank you Hinata… if it wasn't for you, I would probably have been kidnapped by that pervy ninja lady. You came in all cool like and hit her with one of those special hits your family uses! That was so cool!" Naruto said, getting overly excited.

"Do you think you could teach me how to do some of those hits, Hinata?" Naruto said, motioning like he was hitting an enemy ninja beside him, "I know you have to have those eyes, but maybe if you just show me where to hit them I can get it too, you know?" Hinata's eyes had begun moving slowly again, and Naruto continued, leaning a little closer to her. "Oh! I just thought of a really cool move I can show you! If you wake up, I can teach it to you. It'll be perfect, and we can use it on our new C-rank missions if we see any enemy ninjas!"

Hinata's eyes were still moving, and her eyelids separated a little. Naruto leaned over her motionless body to look into them, and continued talking. "I think I have to thank you again though, Hinata. If you didn't get that crazy girl ninja, I would have been kidnapped, but we also wouldn't be able to take on C-rank missions, either! I don't know if you care or not, but you're helping me achieve me dream! Because of you, I'm now one step closer to getting to be the greatest Hokage this village has ever seen!"

Tears rolled down Hinata's cheeks. "N-Naruto-kun!" she whispered as she opened her eyes. She was looking at the girl that Naruto turns into to hide from being recognized. She tried to look around the room, but everything looked all fuzzy like she just got hit over the head; she tried to focus on the moving blurry figures around the room, but she just couldn't make anything out. She looked back to Naruto, and he was smiling down at her.

She could feel herself blush, and she smiled back. Naruto was within arms reach, and she wasn't in her right state of mind, so she reached up and hugged him. Naruto was starting to get stomachaches. This is the fourth hug he has received in the past two hours, and he was starting to get uneasy. She didn't give him a spine crushing hug, but more of a gentle and passionate (as passionate as a hug can get, without groping and kissing) one.

"Wow! It's amazing, she really woke up!" the doctor said; he and the guard had an equally surprised look on his face.

Ino's lip was twitching, and she didn't know why, but she felt angry watching Hinata and Naruto hug. Sakura felt pissed off too, for a reason she was oblivious to at the moment, and her knuckles could be heard cracking as she tightened her fist.

Kurenai, after seeing Hinata hug Naruto, turned her head slightly so she could see Ino and Sakura. She smiled at their reactions, then went back to watching Hinata and Naruto. 'I bet they don't even realize it,' Kurenai thought, and smiled a little wider, 'I bet I could write a book about them. I'll just need to add a little more… 'excitement'. Or maybe if I just wait a little bit, they'll get there on their own…'

Hinata released Naruto, blushing furiously, but not before whispering, "I really missed you, Naruto-kun…"

Naruto was also sporting a small blush after hearing her words. 'She… missed me?' Naruto thought, then scratched at the back of his head sheepishly.

'What did she say!' Ino and Sakura mentally shouted in unison.

"Naruto, finish anything you have to say, I have to take down the sound jutsu now," Kurenai said, and Naruto nodded to her.

"Um, Hinata, I'm not supposed to be alive yet, so don't tell them who I am. I guess, from what Kurenai called me, my name is Naruko." Hinata looked confused for a second, then nodded. Naruto looked back to Kurenai and gave her the thumbs up signal. She put her hands together, and the sound jutsu dispelled.

"Awesome, Naruko!" the medical ninja exclaimed, trying desperately to keep his voice down, "Thanks to you, I was able to witness a medical miracle!"

"Naruko," the guard spoke, taking a step forward, "If you come with us, we can bring you to Hiashi-sama. I'm sure he would give you a reward if he heard you brought his daughter back."

Naruto shook his head, "No, I only came to wake up a… a friend," Naruto said, realizing that he actually considered Hinata a friend, someone he only really met a week ago, "I need no reward."

The guard just watched Naruto for a second, then nodded.

"Alright, now I know you were the ones who just brought her back and all, but I need you guys to leave the hospital," the head medical ninja told them, "It was kind of against the rules for you to be brought up here in the first place, but since you cured Hyuuga Hinata of her ailment, it's fine. You can come back and see her tomorrow."

Kurenai nodded. "Hinata, if you feel good enough tomorrow, we will meet at the Hokage tower at 10 for a mission. Be prepared, it's a C-rank mission. If you're not up to it, though, its fine." She then escorted her three teens out of the hospital.

Kurenai noticed that Ino and Sakura were in a bad mood, but said nothing, as they would admit to nothing on their own. They exited the hospital, and Naruto reverted back to his true self.

"Hey Naruto," Sakura asked, getting ready to say what Ino would've if she'd been given a chance, "What, uh… what did Hinata say? You know… when you were hugging…"

Naruto looked at her curiously, and cocked his head to the side. "She just said she missed me. Why?" Naruto asked, curious as to why Sakura could possibly care what Hinata said.

"It's not anything like that!" Sakura said, trying to defend herself against an accusation that didn't happen, "I just was curious, that's all!"

Kurenai smiled, 'definitely need to write a book about them.' "Okay everyone." Kurenai interjected, stopping any further discussion, "I'll bring each of you home. Make sure to get some sleep, you two will have your first C-rank, and Ino has team training to do as well." They all looked like they didn't really want to go home, but they nodded anyway.

Kurenai had dropped Naruto off first, then Sakura. She brought Ino home, but stopped her before she went inside. "Ino, can I ask you something?"

Ino turned back to her. "Sure, go ahead."

Kurenai smiled. "What is you're relationship with Naruto?" causing Ino blushed furiously.

"WHAT?" she hollered, "What relationship! What are you talking about?" and Kurenai laughed.

She had phrased the question like that on purpose, because she wanted to see how she reacted. Too much time around Anko will do that to a persoon. "You seem to have some connection with Naruto. How could you have known he needed help in the graveyard? How did you know he was even still alive?" Kurenai asked, turning serious and trying to understand how it could even be possible.

"I… I don't really know. I just… I just knew. I could feel him calling to me. I knew, the second I felt him call out to me, I knew he needed me."

Kurenai sighed, "I thought maybe you used one of your family techniques to form a connection with him. Oh well, lets just be thankful you did have a connection. Otherwise, Naruto might've died again, and we don't know how many times he would have been able to come back." Ino smiled, said goodbye, then they both went to their respective homes to rest for the coming day.

* * *

Naruto's revival was made official early that morning, and set up an announcement for later in the day. Team 8 reported in to the Hokage's tower at ten in the morning. Hinata, Sakura and Anko would be participating in this mission, and with the addition of the newly alive Naruto, Team 8 was complete.

They entered Hokage's office, and the elderly Hokage thought back on how just yesterday, he figured he wouldn't see anymore than just Kurenai as a functional member of Team 8 again. He smiled, then looked to Sakura. "So, does this mean you are willing to try being a ninja again?"

She nodded. "If I leave him alone, he'll get into trouble. I'll make sure to be there for Naruto this time, I won't just run away!" she explained, a look in her eyes that Hokage instantly recognized as the 'Will of Fire'.

"I am glad to hear that. Now, for your first C-rank mission." The door opened, and an old man who reeked of alcohol stepped in, carrying a small gourd of sake. "You will be escorting this man to the Land of Waves."

Author's box

* * *

Okay, now seriously, raise your hand if you didn't see Wave coming? Could…could one of you just raise your hands so I can feel better about my plot creating abilities? … Douche bags… Well, that's okay, because I'm going to just mix things up with 'Monkey', 'Strawberry', and their 'Touch of Death' companion. Yeah, I'm just gonna do random shit from now on, just to fuck with ya, cause I'm tired of playing by the rules (psyche). So, yeah. How'd you like this chapter? Oh really? It kicked ass? Wha- Psyche? You sonofabitch! Haha, oh man, I'm tired. Anyway, if you would leave any form of feedback to this little piece of story that I just posted, that would be great. 


	8. 07 Gained Ground

…I'm sorry for the late update... I decided to finish up my 'Missing Memories' story, as there was only a detailed experience of the missing memories left for me to do (only about 3k words, really quick). I finished it in a day, and posted it. I got, like, three pages through this one, then I decided to read the comments to boost me along, and I had a comment from 'stigma'. Of course, his name was all gray (does that men they don't have an account?), so I don't know if he got my re-review, but he basically said I did a horrible job. That hurt my spirits a bit, but I decided to ignore it, and continue this story, as he hadn't read the whole story. Then I get a review from 'fuckin turd', whose name is also grayed out, and he said:

'Wtf is this? This is so stupid. Honestly i didn't follow this story and i'm so glad i didn't because it's shit. I just skimmed through the last chapter today. So glad i didn't waste my time, well not much of it anyways. I've gotta look out for your name so i could ignore all of the stories that you may write.

Jeez, just writing this review is a waste of my time.'

… That effectively killed my writing spirit… I had to reread all of my reviews for this story to try to psyche myself back up, but it took a while… I never mentioned it, but extremely negative reviews do the opposite of good or constructively criticizing reviews… I don't mind getting them, as I know they are being honest, but still… if you can tell something is off with this chapter, that's why… on… on with the story…

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"This is who you're gonna have protecting me?" the old man said, slurring his words a bit, "Two women, and a couple of kids?" he finished, leaning against the doorway.

"What!" Naruto hollered, getting quite upset that he was just disregarded, as Kurenai's hands slowly moved to perform a jutsu.

"I assure you, Tazuna-san," Hokage said, trying to correct him before Kurenai put him in some unspeakable genjutsu (She don't like when people look down on woman, remember?), "these two 'women', are among the best of my Jounin. Your protection is guaranteed." Tazuna snorted, then walked into the room. "Team 8, as I have said, you will be escorting this man to Wave. Nothing big on this mission, just protect him from bandits and the like," the Hokage explained as he handed Kurenai the scroll for the mission. Kurenai reached out and grabbed it.

"Please try not to harm him, Kurenai."

She smiled. "As long as he gets there in one piece, its fine, isn't it?" and gave Tazuna an evil smile. Tazuna flinched, and almost dropped his gourd of sake.

"Hehehe," Anko giggled to her self, "he looks like he just shit himself." Hokage grabbed the bridge of his nose, shook his head slightly, and prayed he would not be hearing that they attack him at some point in the mission.

"Alright! Lets get going already!" Naruto said as they exited the Hokage tower.

"That's the spirit, Naruto!" Anko yelled enthusiastically, and clapped her hand down on Naruto's shoulder.

"Are all of you fully prepared?" Kurenai asked, making sure they were ready for their first C-rank mission.

"Yeah!" Naruto shouted, and he and Anko pumped their fists into the air.

"Yeah, I stocked up on medical supplies and ninja tools this morning," Sakura answered, smiling slightly as she watched Naruto get pumped up.

"U-um…y-yes, I'm ready…" Hinata said, averting Kurenai's eyes for no reason (she is just nervous).

"Alright, were ready, lets go!" Anko shouted, running off with Naruto towards the eastern village gate. Kurenai smiled, and led her two remaining students and Tazuna to the gate as well.

"Okay everyone, listen up," Kurenai begun as they had reached the gate, "Keep on guard. We probably won't run into anything, but this is a C-rank mission, so be prepared for anything." Kurenai turned to Tazuna, who averted his eyes. She raised one of her eyebrows, 'Did I scare him that bad?' she thought. "You are to do what we say. If we tell you to stay put, you don't move. If we tell you to get on the ground, you drop like someone stole your shins. If you don't listen to us, then you may die, and we will not be held responsible. Understand?" and Tazuna nodded his head, still not looking at her.

"Yeah, lets go already!" Naruto shouted, and begun walking off down the road.

"It's the other way, Naruto!" Sakura shouted to him. He stopped moving, then turned around, blushing slightly and scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah, I feel safe with him protecting me." Tazuna muttered as the blonde made it back to the rest of the group. Anko gave the drunk the finger.

* * *

They were about an hour down the road, when Kurenai noticed a puddle on the side of the road. She sighed. 'Wow… their placement is terrible… not even a decent genjutsu to begin with.' She exchanged a glance with Anko, not a serious one, but their eyes just met for an instant.

"Hey Naruto, Sakura," Anko called, "lets go ahead, make sure there's no one waiting in the trees."

Naruto's face lit up. "Yeah! I was getting bored of just walking!" He ran up ahead.

"Alright." Sakura replied, jogging to catch up with Anko and Naruto.

"Hinata, make sure to stay close to Tazuna while—" was all she could finish before two mist ninjas wrapped a chain around her.

"One down." They said, and pulled the chain tight. She shredded into several pieces, and then they moved to Tazuna.

They were about to wrap him with their chain, when a massive amount of vines rose from the ground and ensnared the two. "W-What!" one of them said, as they saw Kurenai standing there, looking at them.

"That's how you do a genjutsu," she said before a stinging sensation went through their necks. Kurenai released her genjutsu, and they fell to the floor, revealing Anko standing behind them, snakes coming from her sleeves. Kurenai walked over to them, knelt down, and riffled through their clothes. She sighed, then stood up. "They don't have anything on them," she stated, then turned to Tazuna, "but I bet you can tell me something."

Tazuna looked shocked, "What! W-what could I tell you?" he asked innocently, and unconvincingly.

"Who's after you, for starters; those two were at least Chunin level, and they were after you. You said nothing about ninja being after you."

Tazuna said nothing for several seconds, but the stare Kurenai gave him after he didn't answer for so long broke his will. "O-okay… do you know a man named Gato?" he asked, and Kurenai's eyes widened.

"Gato?" Anko asked, "That really, really rich guy? He's trying to kill you?" and Tazuna nodded.

"Yeah, he is. About a year ago, he decided to take over our little island country. He keeps us from trading with anyone but him, and he sells us things we need for insane prices. I am building a bridge to connect us to the Land of Fire so we can break away from him, so he is trying to kill me."

"If that was the case, you should have told us. This is at least B-rank mission, you should have gotten a team of experienced Chunin. These three are fresh out of the academy."

Tazuna shook his head. "Weren't you listening? Gato is sucking our country dry! Even our feudal lord doesn't have much money… We gathered up all the money we could, and we could barely afford a C-rank!"

Kurenai sighed. "Regardless, we have to go back. You need to get a team suited for a B-rank mission."

"Aw, come on, sis! We handle this mission!" Anko complained, "Two Jounins should be more than enough!"

"Wait, what?" Naruto said, as he had zoned out during the conversation because it was boring, and his brain was just catching up with the information, "We can't stop now! So what if it'll be a little tougher, we can do it! Right Sakura-chan? Hinata-chan?" Naruto argued, turning to his two teammates for backup, and Hinata froze.

Sakura hadn't noticed Hinata's newly acquired 'chan', so she answered immediately. "Of course we can handle it!"

"See, Ku-nee-chan?" Anko pleaded, "They can do it! We just have to keep an eye out!"

Kurenai looked at all of them for a moment. "… Fine… We'll keep going." Tazuna looked like he just came from relieving himself of a 10-pound loaf (poop, incase ya didn't know).

"Good, good, thank you very much for your kindness!" he groveled, and Kurenai waved him off.

"Yeah, whatever. Anko, how much did you paralyze these two with?" Kurenai asked, as she begun tying the demon brothers to a tree.

"Enough to last till tomorrow. You want me to signal Konoha now?" and Kurenai nodded.

Anko knelt down, and held her arm to the ground. Three snake's slithered out, and headed back to Konoha. "Those snakes are really cool, Anko-sensei," Naruto commented as he watched the snakes slither into the woods, "could you show me how to use them?"

Anko blushed slightly when she realized Naruto was asking her, his sensei, for something that would shape Naruto's fighting style. She looked away, and scratched her cheek with one finger, "… Well… I might be able to… I mean, only if you really want it…"

Kurenai smirked. 'Anko, getting so worked up about something like that… you really love being a sensei, don't you?' she thought, folding her arms across her chest and chuckling to her self.

'No, Naruto-kun, snakes are creepy…' Hinata thought to herself.

"Eww, Naruto, snakes are just creepy! Anko can only use them because she's creepy anyways, don't go learning anything like that from her."

Anko smiled. "Aww, don't say that! Besides," she said, then switched to her sexy voice and clung to Naruto's shoulders, "I'm sure there are plenty of 'exciting' thing's I could teach Naruto-kun too…" Naruto, Sakura and Hinata blushed a bit, then she added, "Or would you like to teach him those things, Sakura-chan?" Sakura and Naruto were blushing harder, and Sakura was fuming with anger and embarrassment.

Anko twisted around as Hinata hit where her body was with a juken strike. Anko moved almost like a snake, and got behind her. "I'm sorry; I forgot you didn't I, Hinata-chan? Did you want to join them?" After all three were sporting a deep red blushes, Anko fled into the woods, cackling maniacally.

"…" Kurenai just watched as the whole event went down.

"Are they always like that?" Tazuna asked, with a worried look on his face.

"I won't lie to you… Yes. Yes they are. But they get serious when it's necessary, they'll be able to protect you if anything dangerous happens."

* * *

"Dammit~ this is taking forever~" Anko complained, in a very child-like manner, as it started to get dark.

"If you would just carry me, we could move faster." Tazuna told her, and she shot him a glare.

"If your fat ass could just move quicker, we might've gotten there by now."

They were actually going to carry him to Wave, but the look he got in his eyes told them he was a little too excited to have one of the girls carry him. Naruto couldn't carry him, as his nose was sensitive to the heavy stench of alcohol on him. The strong smell of the sake on the man disorientated Naruto, and he fell out of a tree when he tried to carry him anyway.

"Cut it out, Anko. We'll make it there tomorrow, so we should set up camp right now." She stopped moving, and addressed her Genin. "Naruto, Hinata, you two will go get firewood and some fish from the stream. Stay together." Naruto nodded, and Hinata blushed slightly. "Sakura, you and Anko will be setting up camp." Sakura hesitated, glanced at Hinata and Naruto, then nodded.

"Tazuna, I'll be guarding you." Tazuna nodded. "Then let's get to it."

Naruto and Hinata headed off into the woods, and after a moment of watching the trees they walked through, Sakura begun helping Anko set up camp. "Worried?" Anko asked Sakura, and Kurenai smiled as Sakura begun chasing her with her fist's raised in a threatening manner.

* * *

"So, Hinata-chan," Naruto started after they walked a decent distance into the forest, causing Hinata blushed deeply, "should we get the firewood first, or the fish?" She made no response, so he looked back at her curiously. "Hinata-chan? What's wrong?" and she blushed deeper, looked down, and raised her twiddling fingers in front of her.

"U-um…N-N-Naruto-kun…m-m-my… m-my name…" she managed to stutter out, and he cocked his head to the side.

"Your name? What about it, Hinata-chan?" he asked, and she blushed harder.

"W-w-why… chan?" she finally managed to finish.

"Why chan? Why do I call you Hinata-chan?" he asked, and she nodded. He closed his eyes, grabbing his chin in a thinking pose. "Why? Hmm…" he mumbled to himself, as he had no idea why he did either. After several moments of waiting, Hinata was about to tell him never mind, but he spoke. "I think it's because you're my friend, now."

She blushed, and looked at him, "F-f-f-friend?" she stuttered, and he nodded with a wide smile.

"Yeah, you're one of my precious people!"

* * *

"Take it back!" Sakura hollered as she chased Anko around the camp. Anko had made a remark, after they finished setting up camp, about her being jealous of Hinata for being with Naruto by herself.

"What are you getting so worked up about! If I was wrong, you wouldn't even be upset right now!" Anko shouted back, laughing the whole time.

"Upset about what?" Naruto asked as he broke through a gap in the trees, with Hinata slung over his shoulder.

"Hinata?" Sakura gasped, "Naruto, what happened?"

Naruto shrugged. "I think she might be sick. She passed out while we were walking in the woods."

Sakura gave a weird and crooked smile, "Did you… like, get close to her or something?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, she just fell," Naruto explained, not realizing his words played any part.

"That's weird… were you two talking?" Kurenai asked, as she knew that given the right words, Hinata probably would pass out.

"Actually, yeah. We were in the middle of talking when she passed out."

"What was the last thing you said?" Anko asked, curious as to what he could have said, to make her pass out.

"Hmm…? I just told her she was my friend. Why?" he told them, and Anko smiled.

"That was all it took?" Anko asked, turning to Kurenai.

"I guess so," Kurenai answered, both sporting small smirks of approval.

"Anko, watch Hinata and Tazuna. I'll go get the fish, and Sakura can go with Naruto to get firewood." Anko, Sakura and Naruto nodded. Kurenai left, and so did Sakura and Naruto.

"So what happened to that girl?" Tazuna asked, curious as to why no one seemed concerned that she passed out.

"Hinata?" Anko asked and looked at him, with a curious look on her face. "Hmm… she has a thing for Naruto, and passes out sometimes around him. Don't worry about it." Anko answered, looking down to Hinata.

"Oh." was all Tazuna said.

After about half a minute, Hinata woke up. "H-huh?" Hinata groaned, and looked around. she saw Anko sitting directly across from her, and Tazuna on the other side of the camp. "H-how… w-where's Naruto-kun?" she asked, and Anko shook her head.

"You passed out a few minutes ago. He went out with Sakura. They're in the woods, gathering firewood."

"O-oh…" she muttered, looking down to her feet and cursing her herself for throwing away the time she had with Naruto.

"You know," Anko started, looked around, then continued, "if you don't hurry up, you won't be able to get Naruto."

Hinata snapped her head up to Anko in shock; her eyes locked onto Anko's, "Sakura and Ino… if you don't hurry, one of them will get him first. At the pace you're moving at now, you won't even be a contender."

Hinata hadn't blinked, and was staring deeply into Anko's eyes. Anger flashed over her face for an instant, and then a downcast expression took its place. "I… I know…" she mumbled, and Anko felt a little surprised at Hinata's answer.

Anko had wanted Hinata to get all embarrassed, but her reaction now told Anko Hinata was actually troubled over this. She sighed. "Do you know what you have to do?" she asked in a serious tone after sitting in silence for several seconds.

Hinata looked up to her pleadingly. "N-no! Can… c-can you tell m-me?" she asked, with a helpless tone in her voice.

Anko smiled. "You need a connection with him. That's the only thing Sakura and Ino have that you don't. Sakura has a little advantage, Naruto is very familiar with her," she said, and Hinata looked down to her feet, "but she throws that away by not being honest with herself." Hinata's head perked up a little.

"Ino… well… I have no idea what their connection is, but there obviously is one, and your advantage over her is you will constantly be with him. You also are one of his precious people now. Ino doesn't even have a 'chan' yet, so that's another thing you have over her."

Hinata looked up to Anko, and smiled a little, "But you have to make sure Naruto knows you like him; otherwise, he will just see you like he sees Iruka, Hokage-sama and Teuchi-san. That's fine, but I'm pretty sure you want to be just a little bit more than that, don't you?" Hinata hesitantly nodded.

"Hey! We got the firewood!" Naruto called, bursting through the trees. Hinata blushed as she watched him drop the wood in the middle of camp, refusing to allow herself to look away.

"You have to make a connection, okay?" Anko instructed her, "Doesn't have to be this moment, but you have to do it soon."

Hinata nodded, and continued to watch him as Kurenai walked into camp. "I got some fish, too."

Anko turned to her. "So, how long were you gonna wait to show yourself before Naruto came back?" as she knew Kurenai was listening to them.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. Could you set the fire, Anko?" Anko smirked, then used a low-level fire jutsu to ignite the pile of firewood.

"So that's the bridge builder?" a rough voice whispered from the trees.

"Yes, Zabuza-sama." a masked person said from next to him. "I don't believe I have to tell you, but those two women are Jounin."

Zabuza chuckled, "Yes, Yuuhi Kurena,i and Mitarashi Anko. Well, lets begin, shall we?"

Author's box

* * *

…um… some more shit will happen next chapter… oh, and if you could leave a review, that would be cool… and sorry for ruining this chapter with my literary depression…


	9. 08 Here Comes A New Challenger!

… they found my flash drive... I have been forced to rely on my massive amount of psychic abilities to force other people to write this story...

Well, I'm back. Again, for like the 8th time. Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who left reviews last chapter, and I would like to say that there is no emoticon in existence that can emote how good it felt to read one 'monkey3000' review. Seriously, I couldn't find one. I had to convince myself you weren't lying to me first, though, but I was able to finish fairly quickly.

For everyone who is familiar with our new female character, ah apologize if ah… I mean, I apologize if I over exaggerated her southern accent a little, or didn't do it right. I am not really familiar with her in… where she's from that I can imagine her voice, or how she would talk. so if I messed up, instead of getting mad at me for it, if you could give me some tips (aside from anything telling me to do something that gets me more familiar with her character), it would be much appreciated.

update: these characters i am adding are not crossover characters; they have no connection to their previous worlds, and they were born and raised in the naruto world.

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"Zabuza-sama," the masked figure started, "would it not be easier to wait until they fall asleep?"

Zabuza smiled underneath his face wrapping. "Infinitely easier, but I haven't had time to really let loose on anyone lately. You might have to come in and get me for this one though, Haku. You know what to do."

Haku nodded, then sent a raised hand into several quick seals. After a moment, it begun raining. Haku nodded to Zabuza, then shunshined away.

* * *

Anko was sitting on one side of the fire, with Hinata on her left and Naruto on her right. Kurenai was sitting directly opposite to her, with Sakura on her left, and Tazuna about an arm away from her on her right. They were talking about random topics, from what Naruto would do to anymore enemy ninja that attacked, to the new clothing shop that Sakura found, when it had begun raining and the fire sizzled out of existence.

Suddenly, Anko grabbed Hinata and Naruto, Kurenai grabbed Sakura and Tazuna, and they all hit the ground. A whirling sound was heard speeding overhead, then a heavy 'thunk' type of sound. Everyone looked up to see Zabuza standing on the handle of a large sword that was stuck in a tree, his features outlined by the falling rain.

"Who is that!" Naruto yelled from the ground.

"Momochi Zabuza," Kurenai informed as her and Anko stood up, "Damn, I didn't think we would be attacked before we reached Wave…"

"I feel honored that you know my name!" Zabuza taunted, raising his arms slightly outwards to the side, and smiling beneath his mask.

"Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, protect Tazuna. Do NOT interfere in this. He is Jounin level," Anko ordered, looking directly at Naruto, giving him a 'that means you!' look.

"They won't be enough to protect him, and neither will the two of you," Zabuza said as he crouched down on his sword, "It will save your lives if you just give him to me."

"Ha!" Anko laughed, looking back to him, "Try it, you eyebrow-less freak!"

A vein popped out on Zabuza's forehead. "You'll regret those words, woman," he declared ominously, then pulled his sword out from the tree, causing him to fall to the ground. He raised his left hand above his head, and his right hand in front of his mouth. "Hidden mist jutsu!" he said, and for as long as Anko could see him, Zabuza's eyes were locked onto hers.

A thick mist covered the small camp, replacing the rain that started falling moments ago. "Protect Tazuna!" Kurenai told her Genin, before tuning her attention completely to her surroundings.

"8 choices," Zabuza's voice echoed creepily from seemingly everywhere and nowhere, "liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein… neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart…which one should I choose?" he mused aloud, then a deep laughter echoed through the fog.

"Anko-sensei! Behind you!" Hinata yelled, as she had been scanning the fog with her byakugan, and had just found him. Anko turned and shot three snakes behind her, attempting to catch him in the fog. They were deflected, and Zabuza disappeared.

"He's gone!" Hinata called, an instant before he landed in between her, her teammates and Tazuna, sword angled behind him so he could swing around and slice them all in half.

"Looks like you are going to be a nuisance," he commented darkly. He begun to swing his sword, but stopped, then jumped away.

He had enough time to watch two snakes, one coming from Naruto's jacket, and one from Hinata's, poof from existence, and a very pissed off looking Anko charging him, snakes poised to strike. Anko had planted the snakes on Hinata and Naruto when she grabbed them as Zabuza arrived.

He swung his sword horizontally (sideways) at her stomach, and she bent over backwards to avoid the hit. He, halfway through his swing, stuck his sword into the ground, and used the momentum to give a heavy kick to her side. Anko went flying off to the side, and at that moment, Kurenai appeared in front of him, stabbing at him with a kunai.

He went to jump backwards, but the low-level genjutsu she placed on him, unnoticed until now, caused him to stumble backwards slightly. He was only able to deflect the kunai from his organs, receiving a kunai in the side before jumping away with his sword.

Anko (before Kurenai appeared) went sailing across the small clearing that was the camp, but was caught by Naruto. Naruto made a large grunt as he fell backwards. Anko sat up on Naruto's stomach, nursing her side for a second, then standing up.

"Thank you Naruto, you really broke my fall."

Naruto stood up as well, an upset and pained look on his face, "Yeah, well your fat ass nearly broke my back!"

She turned back to Zabuza, who had just landed after jumping away from Kurenai. 'I will not kill my students, I will not kill my students, I will not kill my students!' she mentally chanted, a vein popping out of her head and her eyebrows twitching.

At this point, the mist had completely dissipated and it begun raining again. Anko made her way to Kurenai's side, and the two exchanged a glance. Kurenai charged Zabuza, and he did several quick seals, causing some of the fallen rain to shoot towards, hitting her in the stomach with a decently high pressure.

She fell back, a rip in her dress's stomach area, and Anko jumped out from behind her, snakes poised to strike. "Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking snakes, on this motherfucking pla-… ninja battle! (HA!)" he shouted before jumped towards her, and swinging his sword at her in mid air.

She tried to maneuver away from the sword, unsuccessfully, and got caught in the side of her stomach. She fell to the ground, spilling a decent amount of blood onto the grass beneath her. "Anko-sensei!" the three Genin shouted, and Naruto rushed towards her.

"Naruto! Stay back!" Kurenai shouted, getting up and covering Zabuza.

Naruto ignored her, and continued to Anko. He made it to her side, and knelt down beside her. Her face was contorted in pain. Naruto looked down, seeing that her blood was on his hands and pants. Her wound was starting to heal (you know why, right?), but he hadn't noticed. "Uh… uh…URAAAGH!" he screamed, releasing a large amount of demonic chakra.

"What!" Zabuza shouted as he saw Naruto rocketing towards him. He rolled to the side to avoid Naruto, but alas, there is no rest for the wicked. Naruto ricocheted off of a tree, and headed right back at him. He jumped backwards, and Naruto pounded the ground where he had been.

'Why the hell am I running from this runt?' he thought, and decided to go on the offensive. He slashed at Naruto when he jumped at him again, but Naruto deflected the blade, and slashing his sharp claw (hand) across Zabuza's face. The cloth that covered Zabuza's lower face came off in shreds, and Zabuza had four streaks of blood going sideways across his face. Zabuza grabbed Naruto with one hand, and threw him across the camp into a tree.

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed. Zabuza stood there for a moment, and wiped his fingers across his face. He pulled them away, staring at the blood on his fingertips. His face didn't make much of a visual change, but the slight change it did make made him look dangerously pissed off.

Naruto came off of the ground, looking a little more subdued, then ran at Zabuza, upright instead of on all fours. Zabuza looked at the charging Naruto, and ran towards him, sword poised to strike. He sung, successfully cutting Naruto in half. Naruto's halves just sat there, in mid-air for a moment before turning into petals and flying around Zabuza. 'Fuck…' he thought as a giant tree formed up and around him, 'I forgot to protect myself from Kurenai's genjutsu' and watched as the aforementioned Jounin stepped towards him, kunai in hand.

At that moment, the Zabuza who had been standing in the middle of the camp, caught in genjutsu, fell to the floor with two senbons sticking from his neck. Kurenai looked up to where the senbons came from, and saw a masked figure standing on a tree branch it had stopped raining, and Kurenai could clearly see the person.

"A-a mist hunter-nin?" Kurenai said, examining the person's mask.

"Impressive. Yes, I am a hunter-nin, and I have been after Momochi Zabuza for quite some time. Thanks to you, I was able to find an opening."

'Wow… this kid can't be not much older than Naruto, and already a hunter-nin.' Kurenai thought to her self as she checked Zabuza for a pulse. Naruto looked at Haku for a moment, then rushed over to Anko.

"It's no use," Haku called to Naruto, "she will die very soon. She has been cut in a…" Haku continued, but paused as Anko started making groaning sounds. Haku looked down to her, and saw her side closing up and steaming as Naruto had his hands on her stomach. "That… that is amazing… I would love to ask about how you can do that," Haku said, then shunshined down and picked up Zabuza, "but I really have to dispose of this body. Maybe we'll meet again." Haku raised one hand with index and middle fingers raised, then shunshined away.

After about a minute, Anko was completely healed. "That really is amazing, Naruto!" Sakura said after he was finished, "What is that!"

Naruto smiled. "You remember how I healed and came back alive after being buried? Well, that healing ability I have, I can use it to fix other people too."

"That is amazing." Sakura repeated herself, and Naruto smiled like he was eating ramen for the first time, and scratched at the back of his head. It had been almost 3 years since she had complimented him on anything. The first, and up until a few seconds ago, the last compliment she had ever given him, as very soon after that, Sasuke entered the academy.

* * *

Flash back

* * *

Naruto had just been beaten by a mob, but he healed completely minutes after they left. He hadn't moved, though, as he was trying to find a good enough reason to get up. He lived in this village for no reason; he was beaten, he healed, he was beaten again, he healed gain, then he went home. The next day would be the same, and so would tomorrow, and the day after. It was at that moment that he felt a shadow cross over his face, and stay there.

He opened his eyes, looking apathetically towards the sun's obstructer. He saw Sakura looking down curiously. "Why are you lying down in the dirt?" she asked as she knelt down next to him.

"Because everyone hates me," he stated, looking into her green eyes.

"I don't hate you. You're an idiot, but you have these cute whisker things, so that makes you okay," she said, poking his cheek lightly with her pointer finger.

"You…" Naruto started, trying to make sure he heard correctly before continuing, "you like my whiskers?"

Sakura smiled. "Of course! I wish I had those instead of this huge forehead!"

Naruto laughed. "But Sakura-chan, your big forehead is cute too!" he said, and she punched him in his forehead.

"Idiot…" she said, sporting a small blush, then helped him up.

Naruto dusted himself off, then smiled. "Thank you, Sakura-chan!"

* * *

End flash back

* * *

"Is she done healing?" Sakura asked, as her wound was closed and nothing else was happening.

"I think so…" he said as he pulled his hands off of her stomach.

"Excuse me," Kurenai said, and move down to Anko. She felt her wound, and it felt like nothing happened. If it wasn't for the large scar, and the blood still on her skin, no one would be able to tell anything happened.

"Yeah, she's fine, but I think she needs to rest. She still lost a bit of blood, so it might not be good for her to move around too much."

Anko snorted, "You're always bossing me around."

The comment caused Kurenai to look up to her in shock. "You're already awake?" Anko nodded, then dropped her head to the floor. Kurenai picked Anko up, and moved her over into the shelter of her tent. She came out a moment later, smiling. "Thank you, Naruto. Again. This is the second time you have saved my Anko."

Sakura cocked her head to the side. "What's the relationship between you two? She is always calling you sis, or nee-chan, but you two aren't related, are you?"

Kurenai shook her head, "No. Well… Anko was traumatized when she was little, I won't go into detail. That's her business, and she can share if she wants to, but she was mentally injured. You all saw her, right? After Naruto died, how she wouldn't say anything or respond. My team found her like that, and helped her psychologically. She was like that for a few years, then she came out of it, strangely attached to me for no apparent reason. It might be because I was the only girl on the team, it might have been because she identified with me somehow, I don't really know why, but she followed me everywhere after that. She grew on me after a while, and I ended up adopting her as my sister."

Sakura nodded, "That makes sense, kinda, but why was…" she started to ask, but Kurenai cut her off with a raised hand.

"No. I can't tell you anymore. All of that is really personal, and she probably wants to tell you herself, eventually. For now, though, it's time to get some rest. I doubt Gato would send anyone else directly after Zabuza. We should be fine for the night, but I will still keep watch."

Her three Genin went and laid down under separate tents (like, the covering tent things people set up. Not the one's that cover all sides, they leave the front and back open) set up for them. Kurenai concealed herself in a genjutsu, then sat on a rock sticking out of the ground.

* * *

Hinata was having a hard time sleeping. She was a little nervous about the possibility of another attack, but she was mainly concerned about Naruto. 'Sakura…Ino…' she thought to herself, frowning at the tent top. 'He looked so happy after she called his ability amazing…' she thought, her eyes closing about halfway.

'Can I… can I really win against her and Ino?' she wondered, but hen remembered Anko's words. 'tell him how I feel… form a connection… will I really be able to win even if I do that?' she wondered, closing her eyes completely. "…Tomorrow… I will do it tomorrow…" she told herself, then tried to force herself to sleep.

* * *

It was well after everyone was asleep that Anko woke up. She looked around, checking the faces of Hinata and Sakura, who were sleeping beside her, then sat up. She was breathing heavily, and begun looking around, searching for something. She found it. There was Naruto, sleeping peacefully.

She opened her mouth slightly, and her breath quickened. She crawled out of the tent, and moved over to Naruto. She stood over him for a moment before dropping down next to him. She was breathing harder now. She moved her face to his face and begun sniffing him. She stopped, shuddered, then begun sniffing his jacket.

She was moving all over his jacket, grabbing it in her fists and dragging her nose across it, until she found her way to his crotch. She took a deep sniff, shuddered again, then moved her hands to his crotch. She was about to unzip his pants, but she stopped.

She shook her head, then looked to Naruto's face. She shook her head harder, then got up. She stared at him for a moment, then moved back to her original sleeping area. She laid down, and was quiet for several seconds before she started crying. '…A-Anko? What's…?' Kurenai thought while Anko sobbed quietly to herself.

* * *

"Time to wake up everyone!" a woman's voice called, and Naruto struggled through his grogginess to identify it. "Come on, Naruto," the voice he recognized as Kurenai's called, "you too!" Naruto opened his eyes and saw Hinata and Sakura standing above him.

"Hey," he greeted as he jumped to his feet, "what's going on?"

Sakura folded her arms, "Yeah, were leaving. We were just waiting for you to get your lazy butt up."

Naruto smiled, "Well I'm up now, lets go!" and she smiled back.

"Naruto, Hinata, you two go get some water," Kurenai told them, pointing them towards the stream , "Wave is another half a day away, we need to refill our water so we don't dehydrate."

Naruto nodded, and Hinata gave her a determined smile. They left towards the stream, and Sakura turned to her. "Why do you keep sending them together?" Sakura asked, hands on her hips and a frown on her face.

"Why do you keep noticing?" Kurenai asked, raising one of her eyebrows. Sakura scoffed, then looked away. "Come on," Kurenai said after a small chuckle, "lets pack up camp."

* * *

Naruto and Hinata walked through the woods without saying much to each other. Naruto had his hands behind his head, humming to himself. It made Hinata feel good to see Naruto in such a good mood, so she decided to ask him about it. "N-Naruto-kun…um…" she started, realizing it was much easier to say in her mind.

"Yeah, Hinata-chan?" he said, glancing back at her. She blushed hearing her new 'chan' again, then continued.

"…H-h-happy… y-you seem happy…" she said, and he smiled ear to ear.

"Yeah! Sakura-chan complimented me yesterday!" he explained, and she stopped moving, looking down to the ground.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto called as he realized she stopped.

'Just a compliment…' Hinata thought, and Naruto stepped closer to her, looking at her curiously.

"Hinata-chan, are you okay?"

'A simple approval from Sakura… that was enough to put him in this happy mood…' she thought as he called to her.

'You need to tell him how you feel,' she heard Anko's voice echo through her mind, 'you have to do it now, or you'll lose him.' Her eyes hardened, and she refused to back down.

'He's looking at you Hinata,' she thought to herself, 'say something. Anything!' She opened her mouth and looked up to him, but he was staring at her, and seeing his face caused her to receive a full-faced blush and look away.

"Are you getting sick again? You're not gonna pass out again, are you? I'm gonna go get Kurenai-sensei!" he told her. He started back towards the camp, but felt a snag on his jacket. he looked back to see that Hinata was holding onto his jacket sleeve. "H-Hinata-chan?" he called, confused by her unusual behavior.

'I like you,' she thought, 'say it! I like you, tell him!' She looked up to him, locking onto his eyes. "N-Naruto-kun… I…" she said, hesitating, and almost breaking away. 'No, you have to say it!' she thought to herself.

"What's wrong, Hinata-chan?" he asked, and she gathered every ounce of courage she had stored over the years, and opened her mouth again. "Naruto-kun, I like-" she started, but was interrupted.

"GODDAMNED MONKEY! GET DOWN HERE, WE HAVE TO GO!"

Hinata's courage drained from her, and she cursed herself as she faded back into her timid personality. Naruto turned to see where the shout came from, when another shout broke through the trees. "YOU CAN KISS MY ASS, YOU STRWBERRY BASTARD!"

Naruto couldn't see anything, but he heard a third shout of, "IF AH HAV'TA COME'N GETCHA', AH WONt BE GOIN' EASY!" nothing was heard for several moments, then rustling in the trees above caused Naruto and Hinata to look up. Leaves and sticks could be seen falling from the trees off in the direction of the shouts, but quickly making their way over to them.

(update: these characters i am adding are not crossover characters; they have no connection to their previous worlds, and they were born and raised in the naruto world. just incase you skipped the beginning note, these are OC characters now, just with their original counterparts as templates.)

They were almost above Naruto and Hinata, when a shout of "TAKE THIS!" came from above. A loud crack sounded, and someone fell from the trees, right on top of Naruto. It was a woman, she was wearing a tight fitting ninja suit, a yellow stripe running down the center of her body and on the inside of the legs with green surrounding the yellow completely, with long sleeves that left no visible skin, a brown ninja vest, brown boots and brown leather gloves.

She lay on top of Naruto, their faces connecting, and long brown hair, with a streak of white in it, was spread around them so Hinata couldn't see their faces. "Ahhhh…" the girl groaned, then opened her eyes. It was blurry, but she could definitely make out someone's face. 'Why am ah looking in somebody's face?' she thought to herself, then realized they were touching.

"AHHH," she shouted, jumping off of Naruto, and backing away, "Ya can't be touch'n me. Ah'm sorry, but nothin' ta be done 'bout it now."

Naruto stood up. "No problem," he said, rubbing the top of his head, "it was an accident."

The woman's mouth fell open. "Y-…Ya not… ya fine!" she exclaimed, astonishment all over her face.

A boy with orange hair, a pure black ninja suit, and a giant sword wrapped up on his back. "What's going on?" he asked, turning to the woman.

"Ah touched him, but he's fine!" she said, and the boys expression changed to one with equal shock.

"I don't understand," Naruto said, cocking his head to the side, "why would I get hurt from just touching you?"

She stepped up to him. Hinata got ready to attack, just incase the woman didn't have Naruto's best interest in mind. She took off her right glove and reached her hand out to Naruto's face, and he flinched slightly. He looked into her green eyes, and decided to let her do what she was doing. She hesitated for a moment longer, then lightly touched his face with her finger tips.

Naruto just stood there, staring into her eyes. "What are you doing that for?" he asked, and she turned back to her friend. He had his mouth hanging open as well now, and she looked back to Naruto.

"Why isn't he getting hurt?" a voice called from the trees, then something fell from the branches. It was a boy; he had a round straw hat on, with a red vest, no shirt, and brown shorts. "Ah… ah don't know. Hey, boy, what's ya name?" the woman asked Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto. Why?" he told them, giving Hinata a quick nervous glance.

"Hi, Uzamaki Na'to, mah name is Rogue, that there's Ichigo," she said, pointing to the orange haired boy who raised his hand, "an' the other one there is Luffy." who smiled an unnaturally large smile.

Naruto nodded, then turned half way to Hinata, and raised one of his arms pointing to her, "This is Hinata-chan. We have to get some water for our mission, so we kinda have to go."

She stared at him for a moment. "Wait here for a second." She put her glove back on, then her, Ichigo and Luffy went of to the side and whispered to themselves for several seconds. Naruto looked to Hinata, and she looked back, still poised to attack if they tried anything. They finished, then walked back to them.

"Uzamaki Na'to... would ya mind too much if we went with ya?"

Naruto started to get nervous, shifting slightly. "Why?" Hinata asked, trying to relieve some of Naruto's nervousness by letting him know she was with him, "W-why would you want to come with us?" she finished, causing Rogue to look to her with an aggravated expression.

"Not you, just Na'to. Ah don't care where YOU go."

Hinata's byakugan started popping into activation, but Naruto stepped forward. "If you want to come with me, that's fine, but only if you can get along with my friends."

Rogue looked into Naruto's eyes, then into Hinata's. "Fine. Ah'm sorry, ah aint mean no ha'm." Rogue said, bowing slightly. Hinata kept her byakugan on for a few seconds, then shut it down.

"N-Naruto-kun… w-we don't know them… o-or even what they want."

Naruto cocked his head to the side for a moment, then turned to Rogue, "Yeah, why do you want to follow me?"

She gestured to her covered skin and hands, "Ah do this, cause ah have a Kekki Genkai; if ah touch somebody, skin ta skin, ah take away their chakra, and memories. Longa I touch 'em, the more ah take. After a few seconds of contact, they usually die. But… not you, Na'to. Ah know ah'm probably asking too much, but ah'd really like ta get ta know ya better, Na'to."

Naruto shifted nervously, looking back to her friends, then to Hinata. "Hinata-chan… should we let them come?" he asked, unsure about what to do.

Hinata looked at Rogue, who was semi-glaring at her, but Hinata didn't flinch or budge. "I… I-I don't know about her… o-or the people she's with…" Hinata started, and Rogue's glare got angry, but Hinata continued firmly (well… as firmly as Hinata can, under normal circumstances), "B-but I can tell she won't try to hurt you, N-Naruto-kun…"

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment, "Yeah, I think you're right. I'm not getting that feeling in my stomach… okay, you guys can come with us, but we have to get some water first."

Rogue gave him a wide, almost fox like smile, then nodded.

* * *

The entire time, from then up until they got the water, and then back to camp, Hinata stayed close to Naruto, in-between him and Rogue.

"Hey everyone! We're back with the water!" he yelled as he and Hinata came through the trees.

"NARUTO! What took you so long!" Sakura shouted, and then Rogue, Ichigo and Luffy came in behind them. "Who're they?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to the side questioningly. Kurenai had appeared out of nowhere behind Sakura.

"Well, we met in the woods, and they asked if they could come with us."

"Naruto-baka, we're on a mission! You can't just pick people up on your way!"

Rogue stepped up beside Naruto with a disgusted look on her face. "Why do ya let that forehead holla' at ya like that? Ya don't get a headache?"

Sakura knuckles could be heard cracking by everyone at the camp, and her right eyebrow was twitching. "What!" she shouted, and Naruto turned to Rogue.

"These are my friends too."

She looked to Sakura, just staring at her for a moment, then, "*sigh* Ah'm sorry, ah aint mean no ha'm." and she bowed slightly.

Sakura stared at the bowing Rogue, then looked up to Naruto. He mouthed 'sorry', and she snorted. "Fine, whatever."

"So, Naruto, who are these three exactly?" Kurenai asked, "Why are they with you?"

"Well," Naruto started, "we met them in the forest when we went out. Rogue has a Kekki Genkai that makes her steal chakra if she touches someone's skin, and it can kill people if she touches them for too long. But it doesn't work on me, so she wants to hang out with me." Kurenai looked to Rogue for a second, then to Ichigo and Luffy.

"What about the other two. Are they with her?" They nodded. "So how long are you three planning on staying around Naruto?"

Rogue smiled. "Well… until ah can't no more."

Kurenai quirked an eyebrow. "Then I take it you have no family?"

Rogue shook her head. "Nah, ah've no more kin left."

'Well, I can understand the attraction to someone you can actually touch with an ability like hers, but it seems a little over board…' she thought, looking to the three people Naruto brought with him.

Rogue was looking at her with determined and slightly worried eyes. Ichigo was looking like he didn't want to be there, or had better places to be. Luffy had lost all focus he had on Kurenai, and was imitating a bird that was on a nearby branch, watching him.

"… Where are you guys from? Do none of you have family?" and Rogue shook her head.

"Nah, no kin. And we are from a teeny farmin' village between fire and earth country."

Kurenai nodded, "And why did you leave? This is pretty far away from there, why are you here?" she asked, and Ichigo looked at her.

"We left because we didn't want to be there anymore."

Kurenai nodded, "You're running from something. Did you do something, or is it because of Rogue's ability?" Ichigo and Rogue looked surprised.

"H-how could you know?" Ichigo said, and drew his sword, the wrappings on it falling to the floor.

"Hmmm… so it's because of Rogue's ability. If you just did something, it would be fine because I had no idea what it could have been, right?"

Rogue backed up too, and took her gloves off.

"Luffy! Come on, we're leaving!" Ichigo shouted, and Luffy got up, moving into a defensive position.

"If it's just that," Naruto started, "then it's fine. I have abilities too."

Rogue looked to him distrustfully, like he just led her into a trap. Naruto shook his head, pulled out a kunai, slicing his hand along the palm. "Na'to! Wat'cha lost ya mind?" and he smiled. He wiped the blood away, then showed them as it healed.

"I have something that makes people hate me too."

Rogue started at his hand for a long moment, still watching after it healed. "You can get memories from touching someone, right? Check mine." Naruto closed his eyes and begun thinking about all the pain he went through the majority of his life. Rogue stared at him for a moment, flicking her eyes to Kurenai for a second, then back to Naruto. She walked towards him, then placed both of her hands on the side of his face and closed her eyes.

She was still for a moment, then a few tears rolled down her cheeks. She opened her eyes, stared into his now open eyes, then kissed him on the lips. Several more images and feelings rushed into her, causing her to pull away after a second, then run away with tear filled eyes. Ichigo looked at Naruto, amazed that he was still alive, and that Rogue just kissed him. Luffy was equally surprised. After a moment of gawking at Naruto, they left after Rogue.

Naruto, a little stunned at getting his first kiss (The Sasuke kiss didn't happen, the events of team assignments changed), and from someone he didn't know. He stumbled around to look at his teammates. Kurenai was smiling, with one eyebrow raised. Hinata and Sakura were both steaming, faces red from anger. He laughed nervously, unsure why he was feeling like his life was in danger. "S-so… a-aren't we, uh… going to continue our mission?" he asked, but Hinata and Sakura seemed to get more pissed off after he spoke.

"Yeah, I'll just get Anko," Kurenai said, laughing perversely in her mind, "then we can leave."

* * *

"So… what are we doing?" Ichigo asked Rogue after they made it a fair distance away.

"Ah… ah'm gonna go back ta Na'to…" she said, and started moving back in the direction she ran from.

"What? Then why'd we run in the first place?" he asked, with an 'I just ran all that way for nothing' face.

"Yeah, strawberry's right, we could've just stayed with them," Luffy commented energetically.

Rogue shook her head, and wiped the remainder of her tears away, "Ya'll wasn't in his mind… he has it ha'der then we did. An' he aint had no one ta help him 'til right now. That's us."

Ichigo and Luffy nodded. "Well alright, lets go back and help him out!" Ichigo said, a little more zest in his voice than before, wrapping his sword back up.

"Yeah! Let someone try to mess with him while we're there!" Luffy shouted, winding his arm up and punching a tree 15 feet away with a stretched arm.

Author's box

* * *

so? How'd ya'll like mah new chractah's? Did readin make ya feel'n ta review? Also, sorry if she was a little hard to understand, but i'm pretty sure you can figure it out. So, yeah... REVIEWTIME...! please, and thank you.


	10. 09 One More Step

I can feel them tracking me… they found a way to track my awesome psychic abilities, but I can't stop to hide myself… MUST! CONTINUE! STORY!

So, yeah, I'm thinking of making this the final chapter. You know, just seems like a good place to end it. Nah, I'm just fuckin wit ya, just wanted to see if anyone actually read these, except for 'monkey3000'. so, yeah, this chapter is gonna change the course of the rest of the story, like three times. In a good way. Now… MISSION START! (God, I'm tired)

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"Dammit, that girl really pisses me off!" Sakura ranted as they tree-hopped their way to Wave.

"Calm down, Sakura. Getting all flustered won't help anything," Kurenai soothed, shrugging Anko a little more securely on her back.

"I'm not flustered!" Sakura snapped back, spinning her head to Kurenai and Anko.

"Ku-nee-chan, I can move on my own, let me go!" Anko shouted from her back, but was unable to complete her tantrum-like behavior. She would have thrown her hands into the air and kicked her legs about, but Kurenai put one of her specially made genjutsus on her. She was unable to move anything but her head.

"You lost too much blood yesterday to be moving around needlessly," Kurenai explained simply.

"Let me move on my own, then carry me if I have problems!" Anko shouted, supplying a simple solution.

"Speaking of extra luggage," Kurenai started.

"HEY!" Anko shouted, but was ignored.

"Is the lingering alcohol smell bothering you, Naruto?" Kurenai finished, looking over to him and the bridge builder.

"Nah, It's fine now," Naruto told her; Tazuna was clinging fearfully onto his back, as he was afraid of heights and high speeds. They learned the smell was bothering Naruto early on yesterday, and had their client stop drinking until they got to wave.

"Okay, but if you need to stop to get some clean air, that's fine, just let us know. We can stop for a few minutes."

"I'll be fine, but I'll tell you if it starts bothering me," the young blonde reassured her.

Kurenai was still worried though, as yesterday he never actually came out and told them the smell bothered him. Kurenai noticed he was moving funny, and forced him to admit it. Then he lied about the smell again, and tried to carry Tazuna anyway. He probably didn't want to slow them down, but it was potentially dangerous, as Kurenai had made sure he understood.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura shouted to him, and he turned to look at her. "You've had that stupid grin on your face this entire time, it's really getting on my nerves!" she hollered to him, breaking a tree branch under her with an angry jump, and he grinned wider.

Hinata was quite upset too, as the both of them came to the conclusion that it was Rogue's kiss that had put him in such a good mood.

"Huh? Sorry, Sakura-chan, I was just remembering yesterday."

Sakura cocked her head to the side, and jumped off the next branch much softer. "What happened yesterday?" she asked, reviewing the previous days events.

"When you complimented me on my healing abilities," Naruto reminded her. Sakura's face widened in surprise; had her words really brightened his day that much?

'Well…' Hinata thought, 'That's sort of better… I guess…'

He looked back at Sakura and smiled. She was about to smile back, when she noticed the scar going across his face and eye. "…" Sakura remained quiet, tilting her head down until she couldn't see him anymore.

Naruto was unable to recognize her silence, as he had to take emergency actions. He had almost missed a branch, and it took him several jumps to get back into the normal flow of tree-hopping. "AHHHHH!" Tazuna shouted from his not-so-safe-anymore feeling spot on Naruto's back, "LET ME DOWN! WE CAN WALK, IT'LL BE FINE!" he hollered, but Naruto shook his head.

"Sorry, but we are already running late. We can't waste anymore time. Besides, we're almost there anyway," Naruto explained after he fixed his jumping pattern.

"Pay attention, Naruto!" Kurenai scolded, and Naruto straightened up and paid attention to the trees.

"… Hey, Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto called.

"What is it, Naruto?" Kurenai asked, looking to him, mainly to make sure he was watching the trees.

"Well, I was just wondering about that guy we saw, the guy that killed Zabuza and had that mask. Who was he? He took Zabuza out like he was nothing."

Kurenai nodded, even though Naruto couldn't see it. "Yes, the mist hunter. Every ninja village has them. They hunt down run-away ninjas. Their job is to dispose of their bodies so no one can learn any village secrets from them. Ninja bodies hold many secrets, so if this wasn't done, then the village's secrets would be available to everyone." Kurenai's mind clinked into gear. Something wasn't right. If he was a hunter, why didn't he just dispose of the body right there? Unless…

"Kurenai-sensei!" Naruto yelled, and Kurenai snapped her head to him. "I was asking how he's so strong? He didn't sound too much older than us." She would tell them later, no need to alarm them now. Zabuza was still alive.

"Well, Naruto," Kurenai started slowly, looking for the right words, "you know how Neji and Sasuke are? They are called geniuses, but there are some people in this world that make even them seem normal by comparison."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, and he looked back to the front. Naruto was silent the rest of the way.

* * *

"Did they leave?" Ichigo asked, looking around the once occupied clearing.

"Looks like it," Luffy answered, looking a little upset at being left behind, "They just left us."

"Well, we kind of did run away. Maybe they assumed we weren't coming back?" Ichigo guessed, kicking some burnt firewood to the side.

"…Na'to went this way, they were headin' ta Wave," Rogue explained, pointing to the diection Team 8 went in.

"Gotta love that memory absorption, right monkey?" Ichigo asked light-heartedly, patting Luffy on the shoulder.

"Hell yeah! Lets go!" he shouted, pumping his fist in the direction rogue pointed out to them.

* * *

"Here we are everybody!" Kurenai called out as they arrived at the boat that would take them to Wave. Anko was dangling from Kurenai's shoulders, pouting about not getting to move on her own.

"Hey Fuyutsuki," Tazuna said to the boat rower guy after Naruto let him down, "you're here to bring us back?"

The man nodded his head, "Yeah. So, did you pick up those seeds?"

Tazuna looked at him with a confused expression, "Seeds?"

Fuyutsuki shook his head, "I figured you would forget. Never mind, I'll go get them later. Alright everyone, hop aboard."

"FINALLY! My legs are KILLING me!" Sakura complained, hopping on the boat.

"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Kurenai asked her teasingly, releasing Anko's genjutsu and letting her get on the boat.

"Well, just over this lake, then we can go home?" Naruto asked, and Kurenai shook her head.

"No, we should wait a day or two for Anko to get her blood back to normal." Kurenai told him, sitting down next to Anko.

Hinata got on the boat next, followed by Tazuna. Hinata took a few deep breaths, then turned slightly to see Naruto get on the boat with them.

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata mumbled loudly, finally working up the nerve to talk to Naruto in front of everyone.

"Yeah?" Naruto asked, turning to her after sat down.

"U-um…" she started, but couldn't finish. She was really nervous, talking to Naruto in front of everyone was almost overwhelming.

"What is it, Hinata-chan?" he asked, earning a small blush from the petite Hyuuga.

'You have to do this. No matter how small, you have to start making a connection!' she mentally encouraged herself. She looked up to him. "U-um… w-when I w-was in the hospital… I-I remember you t-talking to me…" she explained, and Naruto opened his eyes in surprise.

"You could hear me?" Hinata shyly nodded her head.

"Y-yes…I-I remember y-you telling me a-about a s-special jutsu you were going t-to teach me…"

"I did?" Naruto asked, and was in the middle of a head cock, when he snapped his head up. "Oh yeah!" he said unnecessarily loud. "Well, it's like…" he started, then looked around. "I can't really show you right now, but after we get there, I'll show you. Remind me, okay!" Naruto told her.

She blushed, then looked away, "O-okay, Naruto-kun…" 'IT WORKED!' she shouted in her mind. 'This will let me spend some time with Naruto-kun! I don't think I'll be able to confess to him again, but maybe I can chip away at it like this!'

Kurenai smiled, 'looks like Anko's pep talk worked.' Kurenai turned to look at Anko, but she was looking down. She saw her eyes flick up at Naruto, then back down again. She looked miserable. '… I'll have to ask her about last night later on.'

* * *

"Is that Wave?" Ichigo asked as they made it through the forest. They looked to the huge bridge, barely visible through the mist, that was hovering above the water. "Ah think so… where's Na'to?" Rogue asked, then looked around for him.

Luffy cocked his head to the side at an in-human angle. "Maybe they went over the water?" he offered. Rogue walked up to the water and closed her eyes; she just stood there, not moving, her ear pointing to the direction Team 8's boat left.

"Rogue, what are-" Ichigo started to say, but she snapped at him with a "SHUSH!"

He raised his hands in an apologetic manner, allowing Rogue to continue doing what she was doing. After a few seconds, her eyes snapped open. "Ah hear 'em! They're ova' there!" she hollered, causing her companions exchanged curious looks.

"You hear them?" Ichigo asked, straining his own ear to pick up on what she was hearing.

"I don't hear nothin'," Luffy commented, putting his hand to his ear.

"Doesn't matta. Ah do," Rogue stated in her end-of-argument tone of voice.

"So, how are we gonna make it across?" Ichigo asked, crossing his arms as he looked out to the mist covered water.

Luffy looked around. "We could make a ship and go across!" he shouted his ingenious plan to his companions.

Ichigo shook his head. "Use your brain, Monkey, that would take forever!"

Luffy gave him the finger.

"Hmmm… I don't think there is a way 'round… looks like we gotta wait for a boat ta come back 'round to go across," Rogue thought aloud, then turning back to her comrades.

"U~ha~a~! That could take da~a~ys!" Luffy complained, tilting his had to the sky and letting his arms sag to the floor.

"Well… lets get some food. One of us can stay here, and the other two can get food. We haven't eaten today, but we need to keep someone here at all times. Who wants to stay?" Ichigo asked, and rogue raised her hand.

"Ah'll stay."

Ichigo and Luffy nodded, then went out to find some poor rabbit or something that would become lunch.

* * *

"Anko-sensei?" Naruto asked after they made it to land, "Are you okay? You've been acting weird all day."

"Yeah… I'm fine," Anko said without looking at him.

"Was it because of last night?" he asked, and she flinched, then stopped moving, "Because you got caught by that Zabuza guy? If that's all, the—" he started trying to console her.

"I SAID I'M FINE!" she shouted, shoving past him, knocking him down, and running into the village up ahead.

Everyone was quiet as they watched Anko run out of sight. "Kurenai-sensei, what happened to Anko-sensei?" Sakura asked while she helped Naruto up.

"… I'm not sure. I'm sue she will come back soon: she'll make sure to be close by incase anything happens as well…"

"Was it because of me?" Naruto asked, realizing that it was his question that upset her.

"No," Kurenai assured him, shaking her head, "Something's been bothering her… I'll talk to her after she comes back."

"Well, in any case, my house is this way," Tazuna said, walking towards his house, "you are all welcome to stay for as long as you're here." They followed Tazuna to his house, with Kurenai looking around occasionally, looking for Anko as they walked.

* * *

They made it to Tazuna's house with no sign of Anko. Tazuna opened the door, shouting, "Hey Tsunami, Inari, I'm home!" as he did.

Tsunami ran into view. "Oh, father, you made it home safely!"

Inari ran into the room to, and tackled into his grandfather. Tazuna patted his hand on Inari's head, then gestured to the ninja behind him. "They are going to stay with us for a few days, is that okay?" he asked, looking to Tsunami.

She smiled, and nodded her head. "Yes, anything for the people who brought you back safely."

"Sorry for any inconvenience we cause, but we have one more with us," Kurenai said to Tsunami, "she ran off, but she should be back soon."

"Oh, that's no problem at all, we have more than enough room here! Don't worry about it." Tsunami told her waving her hand in a don't-worry-about-it manner.

"Well, I should probably start making dinner, for… eight? Or should I not count your friend?" Tsunami asked, trying to estimate how much of what she needed to cook.

"Well… if it's no problem, then make it for eight. If she isn't back when it's ready, then we'll split it." Kurenai said, looking out of the window that was next to the front door.

* * *

She sat in a nearby tree, just watching the house her teammates entered, as she had been for the past few hours. She occasionally heard her favorite Genin shout unnecessarily loud about something. She also heard her pink-haired student yell at him for some wrong he dealt her without realizing it. She looked down to her favorite kunai, turning it from side to side between her fingers.

"You should just go and apologize…" she said to herself, looking back to the house. "… it'll be fine, just go apologize, then it'll go back to normal. Everything will go back to normal." She waited another couple of minutes, then she jumped down to the door step of the house. She stood there, fiddling with her kunai, trying to think of how to go about speaking to Naruto and Kurenai, when the door opened.

"You're just in time for dinner, come on in," her sister told her, then wrapped her in a hug. "Whatever it is," she whispered into Anko's ear, "it's fine. I'll always be here for you." she said, then led her into the dinning area.

"Oh, Anko-sensei! Where did you go?" Naruto asked loudly, looking up from his food (that he was eating before he was supposed to).

Her eyes darkened a little, and she tilted her head down, "I'm sorry, everyone."

"It's fine, Anko-sensei," Sakura told her after punching Naruto in the head to get him to stop eating, "just sit down and we can eat!" she finished, threatening Naruto with another punch as he reached for his bowl again.

Anko nodded, and took a seat. "Itadakimasu," Anko said unenthusiastically, then slowly ate her food.

* * *

They waited all night, with no sign of a boat, alternating sleeping so that they wouldn't miss the boat if it came. The all woke in the morning, and Luffy went with Ichigo to go catch some breakfast.

Rogue and her friends had just finished eating their breakfast-cooked rabbit, Rogue never taking her eyes off of the water.

"That was so good! Maybe we should move here; their rabbit tastes great!" Luffy said, rolling back and patting his slightly bloated stomach.

"You say that every time we have rabbit. Do you forget how it tastes, monkey?" Ichigo said, throwing a pebble at his stomach, watching as it bounce off.

"Ah see someone comin'! Ova there!" Rogue shouted, pointing out onto the water. A small fishing boat was coming towards them. Rogue stood up as the boat reached the shore, and the man rowing the boat turned to her.

"Anything I can do for you, little miss?" he asked; she nodded her head, showing off her newly acquired fox-like grin.

"Could ya be eva so kind as ta bring us ta Wave?" she asked in a cute and slightly sexy voice, and the man blushed a little.

"Uh, I… I kind of have to go and get some seeds for the village. We are running low, and we, uh, need them. For the next… season."

Rogue put on a cute pouting face, and running her gloved hand down the side of his cheek, "Aww, ya can't? Please, mister, we really need ta get ova there."

The man blushed a little more. "W-well… if you really need—" he said, but was inturuppted by a "THANK YOU!" shouted by Rogue as she jumped into the boat.

Ichigo was shaking his head, "That was cheap." Luffy was laughing as he got into the boat. Ichigo sighed, then got into the boat as well.

"I'm Fuyutsuki, by the way. So, little miss, what do you need to be in wave for?" the man asked, curious as to why anyone wanted to be in wave right now.

"Ah'm lookin' for a boy named Na'to. Him and his 'friends' went this way 'fore we got here."

The man nodded as he rowed, "I might've brought them through yesterday."

Rogue's face lit up, "Really? Ya saw the boy with the red an' black on, with blonde hair?" The man nodded. "Do ya know where he's at now?" she asked, excited that she would be able to join with Naruto again.

"Yeah, they went to Tazuna's house. I can take you there, if you'd like."

"Yes!" she shouted, then looked around the boat. There was an additional oar, so she picked it up, and gave it to Ichigo, "Row!" He just stared at her with a 'like you really expect me to row' face, and her voice darkened, "Row." He grabbed the oar and begun rowing.

"Hahahaha! You have to row, strawberry bastard!" Luffy laughed, but stopped when something hit him in the stomach. It was an oar. He looked up, and saw the man that had previously been rowing was now oar-less, and Rogue was staring at him.

"Row."

"Aww, come on! Why do I have to row!" he whined, and she leaned closer to him.

"'Cause ah'm tellin' ya to."

Luffy grabbed the oar, and begun rowing, pouting and grumbling the whole time. Rogue turned and watched the sun that was hanging over the far off mountains. 'Ah'm come'n for ya, Na'to. Ah won't let nobody hurt ya no more.'

* * *

"Naruto! Wake up!" Naruto heard in his sleep.

No matter how sleepy he was, he would always recognize this voice as Sakura's. "G'morning, Sakura-chan." He opened his eyes to see Sakura, Hinata and Kurenai standing over him, for the second time in two days.

"'G'morning' my ass; wake up! We got training to do, come on."

Naruto jumped to his feet, and looked around. "Where's Anko-sensei? She isn't coming with us?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, she's still asleep. Kurenai-sensei said to let her sleep."

"Don't worry, she won't be necessary at this training exercise," Kurenai assured them, "I'll just show you how to do it, then I'll leave you on your own."

Naruto nodded his head. "Can I see Anko-sensei? I want to see if she'll wake up. I have to ask her something."

"You can try, but I doubt she'll wake up," Kurenai said, then led him to Anko.

Anko was sleeping in the middle of the room, sprawled out on a sleeping mat with the blanket barely wrapped around her, with most of it under her n the floor around her, as opposed to actually covering her. "Anko-sensei, are you awake? I wanted to talk to you," he called, but she made no response. "Oh well, I'll talk to her later."

Kurenai shook her head. "Naruto, go get Sakura and Hinata and wait outside."

"Roger!" he said, saluting her comically, then walking away.

Kurenai walked into the room, closed the door, then sighed. "You can't keep running from him Anko." Anko made no response. "Anko, I know your awake; When you pretend to be asleep, you over exaggerate your breathing a little." Anko opened her eyes slightly. "I'm going to go show them this tree climbing exercise, then I'm going to come back, and then your going to tell me what's going on." Anko shifted her eyes away from her, and Kurenai sighed. "I'll be back… Please don't run away." Kurenai looked at Anko for a moment longer, then left.

* * *

"Okay everyone," Kurenai started, clapping her hands together, refocusing her self on her Genin, "today's training is going to show you how to climb trees. I don't expect you to get it before you leave, but I would like the three of you to practice whenever you have free time to build up chakra control."

Naruto looked at her with confusion on his face. "We're climbing trees?" he asked, disbelief creeping into his voice.

She nodded, then walked up to the tree, then up the tree, then upside down on it's lowest branch. "Yes, you're climbing trees." She smiled at his amazement before jumped down in front of them, holding a kunai out for each of them. "Use these to mark your progress. You have to gather chakra in your feet, then use it to attach yourself to the tree. Try it out."

The three Genin nodded in unison, grabbed the kunai, then put their hands together, focusing their chakra into their feet. Naruto charged the tree, just barely able to get five feet up the tree before he fell on his head.

"OW! Dammit!" he shouted, and looked around; he didn't see Sakura or Hinata. Looking up, he saw Sakura on one of the highest branches and Hinata on the highest. "WHAT! How come they can do it on their first try!" he shouted, kicking his tree.

"I don't know, but you should be able to do it, too," Kurenai started in a relaxed tone. Naruto turned to look at her, "I mean, what kind of Hokage can't even climb a tree?"

Naruto's eye twitched, he turned to the tree, and he shouted, "Alright tree! You hear that? I'm the future Hokage, no stupid tree is gonna beat me!"

Naruto put his hands together, and let the chakra flow to his feet, concentrating on getting the amount even. He opened his eyes, then ran at the tree. He fell after two feet. "ARRRGH!" he snarled from his spot upside down at the base of the tree.

"…Well, keep at it. I'm going back." Naruto grumbled at her as she left, and tried concentrating his chakra again.

* * *

Sakura and Hinata were sitting on a log, watching as Naruto failed, failed, and failed some more. He had made it up to a steady 8 feet in the past half an hour of trying. Hinata was instantly able to master it, as her family's fighting style taught them early on how to control their chakra. Sakura had made it after a few minutes, then practiced a little more before she got tired and had to sit down.

"Hey, Hinata." Sakura called across the log, "Do you think we should help him?" Hinata's eyes lit up as she nodded. Hinata, after 10 minutes had decided to get up and help him out… She just couldn't seem to find the right time to get up, but piggybacking on Sakura's courage was a gift from heaven.

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura called to him as he cursed at the tree for the umpteenth time.

He turned to look at her. "Yeah Sakura-chan?" he asked, and she waved him over.

"You want us to help you out?" she asked as he got closer, and his eyes sparkled.

He got down on his hands and knees, "Yes Sakura-sama, Hinata-sama!"

Sakura chuckled at her new 'sama', while Hinata blushed at hers. "Naruto, you're failing because you're just blindly throwing your chakra to your feet, then charging the tree. You have to concentrate, feel the chakra build in your feet, then focus on the tree." Sakura told him in her usual informative tone she used when explaining things.

He thought about it for a second. "THANK YOU, SAKURA-SAMA!" he shouted, grinning at his newly acquired information

He turned to go back to the tree, but Hinata stopped him. "W-wait! N-Naruto-kun!" she blurted out, and he turned to look at her. She blushed, and looked away, "C-could you tr-try it here f-first?" He nodded, then closed his eyes, and concentrated his chakra using Sakura's tip. She activated her byakugan, then zoomed in on his chakra network. "N-Naruto-kun, y-you're putting too l-little chakra to y-your feet."

He nodded, then pumped some more chakra into it. "T-too much. Ea-ease back a little." He nodded, then slowly pulled a bit of the chakra back. "U-um… y-your right foot has a l-little too much c-chakra." He frowned, and tried to lower his right foot's chakra a little more. "P-perfect… t-try to keep that up a-as long as you c-can to get the feel of it." Naruto nodded, and kept that chakra at a constant rate for almost a minute, before it started fluctuating, and blew his foot off of the ground slightly. "Y-you should be a-able to do it n-now…" Hinata told him.

Naruto smiled, then shouted, "THANK YOU, HINATA-SAMA!" she blushed deeply as he turned and ran back to the tree.

He concentrated for a moment, then ran up the tree. He easily got halfway up the tree, before he got too excited about making it so far and lost his concentration. He fell, but was able to hop from branch to branch, making his way safely to the bottom.

He turned to look at them, looking as happy as he'd ever been, then turned back to the tree; he concentrated, chakratized his feet, then ran up the tree again. He made it to the top quickly, only slowing down around 80% of the way up there. It was quiet for a moment, as they watched him stand still on the top branch, then a loud shout of "IN YOUR FUCKING TREE FACE!" echoed through the fest, followed by a loud crack, proceeded by Naruto's scream as he plummeted to the earth.

"Naruto(-kun)!" Sakura and Hinata (Hinata said kun, Sakura didn't) screamed, and rushed to try and catch him before he hit the ground, but they were not needed, as Kurenai jumped up and caught him. She landed, and put him down. She looked troubled, but she was trying to hide it with a smile.

"Wow, I didn't expect the three of you to make it to the top in a single day. You can continue practicing, or train a little bit here if you want."

Hinata's eyes sparkled with a 'this is my chance!' glow. "N-Naruto-kun…" she blurted out quickly, getting his attention, "Y-you said you h-had a jutsu to s-show me?"

Naruto looked at her blankly for a moment, before his face popped with the 'oh yeah!' look. "That's right! Okay, watch this!" he said, and made four clones. "Now," he said, and one of the clones turned into Hinata and took up her stance, "when you fight people, it goes something like this, right?"

The Hinata clone attacked one of the Naruto clones, and the clone dodged around the shots before getting hit after 10 seconds or so. After he got hit, he dramatically imitated being shot, fell to his knees, then fell flat on his face, then poofed out of existence. "It took a little bit to hit him, but what if it was like this?"

One of the other clones turned into Hinata, and took up her stance. They both attacked the clone, and he was caught after 2 seconds. He, after he was caught, spun around, eyes crossed and tongue sticking out, then fell to the ground, legs flying up before landing back on the ground, then he poofed out of existence.

"See? If I teach you how to do the shadow clone jutsu, even if you can't make a lot, one extra juken hitter will make sure you can always catch them, right?"

Kurenai shook her head, "It is a B-rank Jounin skill, I'm not sure Hinata will be able to learn it."

Naruto crossed his arms in a pouting manner, "Of course she can! She's way better than me at chakra stuff, so if I can learn it, then so can she! Right Hinata-chan?"

Hinata had frozen in place; Naruto had complimented her! Naruto had defended her! And he was willing to show her how to do his own special jutsu! 'Was this how he felt when Sakura complimented him?' Hinata thought, barely able to complete a nod.

"Well, I didn't say you couldn't try, just that it is a difficult jutsu to learn. Well, Sakura, do you want to come with me? I need someone to help me defend Tazuna for the rest of our stay."

Sakura looked at Hinata. '…It should be fine if I leave them for a little bit, right…? Wait, what? Why am I worrying!' she thought, then nodded her head to Kurenai. "Yeah, I'll come."

Sakura and Kurenai walked away, and Naruto turned to face Hinata. She blushed and looked away. "Hinata, lookit!" he said, and she looked at him. "First, you gotta do like this!" he said, and put his hands into the cross seal. She imitated him, and he nodded. "Okay, now use your eyes to see my chakra and how it does what it's doing. I'm not good at explaining, so just watch."

She activated her byakugan, and watched his chakra flow. "First, you do like this!" he said, and he pumped a bit of chakra into his hands, and it made a small pulse of chakra. She did the same. "Okay? Alright, then you do this!" he said, and the chakra from his hands moved to his central concentration of chakra, and she did the same. "Then, you gotta split it, kinda like this!" he said, then his chakra spun vibrated into two halves. She tried to do the same, but she wasn't able to do it exactly right. "Got it? Then you push the one half to your hands again!" and one half of his chakra shot back up to his hands, and a clone poofed into existence next to him; she tried the same, but her clone came out looking like the clones Naruto used to make, the pale white ones that would fart then disappear. Only hers didn't fart.

She looked at it disappointedly, then it poofed away. Hinata stared at the ground it laid on, utterly devastated that she was able to learn Naruto's gift for her. "Holy crap Hinata! That was awesome!" she looked up to him, and saw he looked excited at the worthless clone she made. "It took me, like, 3 hours to get that far!" and she smiled slightly, he was praising her again.

"You'll probably be able to finish today, too!" and she smiled a joyful smile.

'Maybe I really can learn it.'

* * *

3 minutes later, Hinata was lying flat on her back, breathing heavily. "Oh yeah, I forgot normal people don't have as much chakra as me… Oh well, we can probably get it tomorrow, or the day after!"

"Y-yes, *pant* N-Naruto-kun," Hinata gasped out, then tried to get up, but was unable. She had exerted a lot more chakra than she would've on her own, trying to keep up with and impress Naruto. Naruto looked down at her for a moment, then offered her a hand. She lifted her hand to take his, but could only make it halfway. Naruto chuckled, and reached down to grab her hand.

He pulled her up slowly; she stood upright for a moment, before wobbling and tilting to the side. He grabbed her, and laughed. "Guess I have to help you back, don't I?" she started to apologize for inconveniencing him, but stopped as Naruto pulled her to his side, with her right arm over his shoulder. Her blush reached even deeper depths as Naruto turned to her, their faces close, "Sorry if you feel uncomfortable or something," he apologized, then begun walking to Tazuna's.

Hinata was steaming a bit, looking down to her feet the whole time. They reached Tazuna's, and Hinata spoke up. "Th-t-thank you, N-N-Naruto-kun…" she stuttered, rising up hesitantly to meet his eyes, "t-t-teaching me your j-jutsu… c-carrying me b-back…"

Naruto smiled. "It was no problem. You ever need anything, or if something's bothering you, just come to me and I'll help you out, okay?" and Hinata looked at him questioningly.

"W-why… for someone useless like m-me?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right, you are pretty useless," he agreed, and Hinata felt her stomach clench at Naruto calling her useless, "I mean, it wasn't like it was you who saved me from that crazy ninja lady, or you that warned Anko about Zabuza yesterday. And that was someone else who told me how to distribute my chakra evenly so I could climb the tree, wasn't it? I'm pretty sure that was someone else who leaned most of the Kage Bunshin jutsu in a few minutes when it took me 5 hours."

Hinata was staring at him, looking at him and not blushing for the first time as her brain processed the fact that he was complimenting her.

"You're pretty awesome, Hinata-chan, don't short-change yourself."

There it was! Hinata's famous blush made it's late, but grand entrance. She was inventing new shades of red as she looked like Majin Buu with the amount of steam coming from her head.

"U-u-u-u-um…." Hinata couldn't even form coherent thoughts as she gained acknowledgement from Naruto. Not complete acknowledgement, but it was good enough to make Hinata's year.

"Well, let's go inside; I want to see if Anko-sensei is up yet." Hinata was barely able to nod through her blush, and they continued on to Tazuna's house.

They walked in, and saw Kurenai and Sakura sitting at the table with Ichigo, Luffy and Rogue. Everyone looked up at Naruto and Hinata. "Kurenai-sensei, Hinata-chan used up a lot of chakra and she can't move anymore." Kurenai nodded, then moved and took Hinata into the guest room with the now 'awake' Anko.

"I thought you guys left?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Me too," Sakura muttered, but Rogue and co. ignored Sakura's remark; Rogue addressed his question.

"Ah did, and ah'm sorry, Na'to. Ah wanted ta stay, but ah wasn't thinking straight. But ah won't leave ya no more, ya hear?"

Kurenai had made it back to her chair, and was quietly listening to the conversation. "Why?" Naruto asked, and she smiled.

"Cause ah… we know what it's like ta have a life like yours." Naruto narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Let me ask ya this, Na'to… if ya found somebody who lived like you have, would ya help 'em?" Naruto nodded his head. "That's what we're doing." Rogue added after a moment, and his eyes opened with realization.

"Took him long enough," Ichigo muttered, but a glare from Rogue shut him up.

"What kind of life have you had, if you don't mind me asking," Kurenai asked, looking at Rogue as she turned back from Ichigo.

"Uh… sure…" she said, getting nervous all of a sudden.

"Well, ah wasn't liked from the time ah was born cause of…" she started, but couldn't continue.

"Rogue," Ichigo started, placing a hand on her gloved hand, "you can just skip that part. Not everyone at the table needs to know."

Rogue shook her head. "No, ah have ta say it."

She looked up to Naruto. "Rogue, if it bothers you to say it, then you don't have to tell me. Just skip it."

She stared at him for a moment, then took a relieved breath. "Thank ya, Na'to. Well, basically people didn't like me cause of my papa. My mama was from the Nagasu clan, and she had me with a… foreigner. So nobody in the village liked me when ah was growin' up, and ah was attacked often. Not as bad as you though, Na'to. Ichigo and Luffy were there for me too, they helped me a lot. They're the reason ah'm here today. Anyway, the Nagasu clan, they were a clan with a Kekki Genkai that could slowly suck the chakra outa' anyone who came too close ta them. It didn't take too much, so they were kinda useless in fights."

"What happened to them?" Naruto asked, shifting forward in his seat a bit.

"They were all killed when ah turned 10. Mah Kekki Genkai activated, and a couple'a people got hurt. The village attacked our district, wantin' ta kill me and prevent "anything like me from happening again." When mah clan was attacked, though, Ichigo and Luffy helped me get away."

Kurenai nodded, "Did they live in the village with you, or did they pass through a lot?" she asked, and Rogue looked at her funny.

"How you always guessing stuff like that?"

Kurenai smiled a little. "It's my job, but the way you described it, they helped you when they could, but you were still attacked a lot. That means they probably didn't live in the village."

Rogue stared at her for a moment longer before starting again. "Nah, they aint live in the village. They came though often though, at first just passing by, delivering stuff or whatever they had jobs for."

Ichigo nodded his head, and Luffy spoke up, "It was when we were 8, right? About 6 or 7 years ago?" and Ichigo nodded. "We were coming through on a job, going to drop off a letter or something, when we saw a couple of guys beating up Rogue. We went over there and- POW!" he shouted, and punched his arm out several feet in the air. Rogue turned to him, and he was smiling up until he noticed her glare. "O-oh yeah! Sorry…" he whispered, then sat quietly in his seat.

"Wow, what was that?" Naruto asked, staring Luffy's arms.

"We don't really know. It's probably a Kekki Genkai," Ichigo said, and Sakura looked at him questioningly.

"You don't know?" she asked, and Ichigo nodded.

"We don't know. His first memory is waking up after I found him. I found him covered in someone else's blood, wandering down the street. He had raggedy clothes, and nothing to help us find where he came from."

Kurenai nodded, "A lot of things have happened to you guys. How old are you, by the way?"

Ichigo answered. "I'm 16, Luffy is 15... I think. We don't really know how old he was when we found him, so we kind of just guessed. And Rogue is turning 15 in a month."

Kurenai nodded. "You guys have had a pretty interesting life. I'm looking forward to getting to know you all better."

* * *

Rogue, Ichigo and Luffy slept outside, as they didn't want to intrude and crowd Tazuna's house. It was early in the morning when Naruto woke up to someone calling to him and shaking him slightly. "Naruto, I need you to wake up." He opened his eyes, and was staring at Kurenai.

"Uh… g'mornin? What's going on?" he asked, focusing on her, then noticing Hinata and Sakura weren't there as well this time.

"Naruto: sorry to wake you up like this, but Anko wants to tell you something before everyone wakes up." Naruto stood up, and looked around. "She's in the same room." Naruto nodded then headed to the guest room with Anko in it.

Kurenai watched as he walked through the door, and thought back on the conversation she had with Anko the previous day.

* * *

Kurenai had made it back to the house, and into the guest room Anko was in. She was in the same position as she was when Kurenai left her. "Anko…" Anko turned her head to look at her. "What happened last night." She flinched; Anko had been afraid her sister might've seen her, but she hadn't been in the state of mind to check.

"… I don't know."

Kurenai moved closer to her, and sat down. "You don't know?" Kurenai asked, curious as to what that answer could possibly mean.

"Well… I… I don't know…"

Kurenai looked out the window Anko was previously looking through. "Start from the beginning," Kurenai directed patiently, and looked back down to Anko.

Anko closed her eyes. "I woke up. I was feeling…" she said, paused, then searched the back of her eyelids for answers. She found one a few seconds later, "E-excited… I don't know why, but… I… I needed Naruto." she said, looking down disgustedly at herself.

"I could smell him… over where he was sleeping, I could smell him. It made me… have to have him. I went over and I started smelling him. Every nose full felt like little explosions of ecstasy or something, like those poetry nerds you like write about… He smelled so good, I was gonna… so many things I wanted to do… I would've, but then I heard him call me. In my head, I could hear him, and then I realized what I was doing. He is… he's so much younger than me… he's my student… he's… he's my little brother, Naruto… I tried to break my self away, but it hurt. I… I don't even know how to describe how it hurt, but it was almost unbearable. Then I looked back to him, and realized what I was trying to do was wrong. I went back to my tent… I felt like shit, like just the most horrible person on the planet… I cried myself to sleep."

Kurenai was quiet, and so was Anko. About a minute passed before Kurenai spoke again.

"How… how do you feel now?" she asked. Anko looked down shamefully at her right hand, moisture still visible in-between her fingers, and then hid it away from sight under her blanket.

"…" Anko said nothing, and looked away so Kurenai wouldn't see her eyes water.

Kurenai slowly nodded her head, "I understand. So… what are you going to do?"

Anko remained silent for several moments. "… I'm gonna leave."

Kurenai's eyes widened in surprise. "W-what?" Kurenai stuttered, and stared at the still window-watching Anko.

"Yeah, when we get back to Konoha, I'm going to resign. Naruto don't need two senseis… especially not when one of them is me. Naruto doesn't need someone like me anywhere near him."

Even though she couldn't see her face, Kurenai saw a few tears drop down onto the blanket covering her hand. "No… Naruto needs you. Do you know how worried he was about you when you left? Every time we heard a noise outside, he would go check the front door. He asked me if you were going to come back every 5 minutes. Anko, you are one of his precious people, and distancing yourself from him will only hurt him."

Anko slowly shook her head, then looked down to her covered hand. "He doesn't know me. He would be better off without me as one of his precious people."

"Anko!" Kurenai shouted, "Pull your self together, he needs his sensei to be strong!"

"HOW!" she shouted, snapping her head to her so fast that some of her tears flew off and splashed onto Kurenai's face, "How am I supposed to be strong when every time I think of him, this happens!" she said, clenching her covered hand. "How am I supposed to be strong when just being near him… it takes all of my strength to not just rip his clothes off and fuck him right there!"

Kurenai and Anko stared at each other for a long moment. Scared and angry eyes locked onto worried and unsure ones. Kurenai broke away by closing her eyes. She stood up and walked to the door. She opened it, then paused. "…You can resign, but only if you're the one to tell Naruto." She shut the door quietly behind her, staring solemnly at her feet. She stayed there for a few minutes, until Anko's crying was too much to listen too anymore, then left.

Author's box

* * *

Hot DOG, that was awesome, I'm getting Goosebumps rereading it (not really)! Oh, and if you noticed, I lightened Rogue's accent a bit. If you're gonna review, tell me what you think of it now, on top of what you were going to say anyway. But yeah, GRAAAAAAWR! How'd ya like my supa grawr? STOP! Review time!


	11. 10 Wake Up

… this is it… they've got me cornered… I'm hold up in a ware house, and this is the last thing I will probably leave anyone… you'd better appreciate it… they're coming!

So, yeah, on the advice of one 'Tristan76', I will try to be more descriptive and (WARNING: CUSS WORD AHEAD) shit. I was doing a good job, I think, up until 2/3 of the way through it, then it got boring, so the quality of it dropped a bit. But, if you like the descriptive new me, say so. If enough people like it, I will continue to write all following chapters in this descriptive-ish manner.

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"What did you want to talk to me about, Anko-sensei?" Naruto asked, rubbing the corners of his eyes with his knuckles, yawning slightly.

The room was barely illuminated by the early sun, not even peeking over the horizon yet, and he could see Anko was sitting on her sleeping mat, looking at him with hardened eyes. She was sitting with the soles of her feet pressing into each other, her legs to the side and her hands on the up most part of her knees, and she wasn't wearing her trench coat. "Don't call me sensei anymore," Anko said, sounding stiff and unfriendly. Naruto blinked, then furrowed his brow and blinked again.

"What?" the young blonde asked, his confusion showing itself on his face.

"I am no longer your sensei. I am no longer anything to you. I never want to see you again."

Naruto stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes shut, as tight as he could have shut them so that they were wrinkling his eyelids and cheeks, and then they snapped back open after a second. He looked alert now, and his eyes, ones of pure concentration now, were scanning the room, almost as if he was looking for something in the room that would explain to him that everything was fine. "Uzumaki," she called in a voice that would have matched her cold and emotionless state after Naruto died, and his eyes raced to hers, hoping for the much needed reassuring words Anko would no doubt give, "I don't feel like looking at you anymore. Leave."

Naruto stared into her cold brown eyes, and a thought boiled to the surface in his mind. 'I knew it.' His eyes turned cold as well, with a bit of anger and hatred. He turned around and left the room, shutting the door quietly behind him. Anko sighed, and looked down. She was squeezing her knees, her nails had broken through her skin, and ten little beads of blood surfaced after she removed her hands. She wiped the blood up with her right hand after a moment, but it beaded back. She brought her right hand up to her face, staring at the red slowly sliding down her fingers. '… How is this any different…? In the end, it's just a different feeling on my fingers...'

* * *

Naruto closed the door behind him, and saw his other 'sensei' sitting at the table, in the as-of-yet unlit room, look up at him. "Naruto, are you okay?" she asked, not missing the look in her students eyes.

'I am as okay as anyone will ever let me be' he thought, staring into her eyes for a moment as if he actually said it, then headed for the front door, put his sandals on, then left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Kurenai put her hands over her mouth and nose, and leaned down slightly to look at the table, her black hair covering her face and arms. She closed her eyes and sat there, thinking back on all of the progress they were able to help Naruto achieve in the short amount of time they had with him. Her eyes opened to slits, and red that would have barely been visible in the proper lighting peeked out, 'He was able to trust us…' she thought, and red slid across the small opening between her eyelids until they landed on Anko's door, '… now he can probably never trust again. Maybe even the people he trusted before…'

* * *

Naruto walked through the forest, seething anger and hatred at such an intensity that all of the rabbits, boars, birds, deer and any other animals in the forest ran the instant they felt it, never coming within 50 feet of him. He walked until he found the area where he learned how to climb a tree, unintentionally of course, as he was just walking aimlessly. He looked up and saw the sign he made in the tree.

'Uzumaki Naruto has conquered this tree, with the help of Hinata-chan and Sakura-chan!

Sincerely, the future Hokage!'

His lip began twitching, and demonic chakra begun enveloping him. He stared at the sign, his anger building upon itself, until he couldn't look at it anymore. He raised his arms, interlocking his fingers, and giving a roar before smashing into the tree. The tree gave a painful sounding crack before toppling over, crashing thunderously into the ground. He stared disgustedly at the tree, and then walked away, dripping blood from his broken hands and broken fingers, marking his way like breadcrumbs.

'I HATE THIS!' the teen with the red tinted blonde hair mentally shouted, killing a rabbit that was too slow to get away with a thrown kunai, 'I hate trusting people! This always happens! Why did I assume this would be any different! Of course I don't get to have a family!' he concluded, stepping on the rabbits head when he reached it. He looked down to it as it twitched slightly, trying to get away. He crushed it's skull underneath his foot, watching as the blood gushed from under his sandal. "At least now you don't have to worry about being betrayed."

"**I can help you,"** Naruto heard echo through his head, and looked around calmly to see where the voice came from. "**Do you not remember me? Let me remind you,"** he heard, then woke up in a sewage tunnel. It was similar to last time, but there were major differences.

One of the many tunnels leading to various unknown areas of his mind had collapsed. Most of the walls were cracked as well, the red-bricked walls that created this area of his mind, and they were leaking what looked like blood into the room.

He looked down, and noticed the red hued water that had covered the walkways was now darker, and looked like blood as well, flooding up to his knees, whereas it only reached his ankles before. It was heavy this time, too. He could barely move his legs, but he moved forward anyway, heading towards the room he knew he had to be in. He was greeted by a giant row of teeth, floating right beneath pleased looking demonic eyes, behind a giant sealed gate.

"**Hello again, Naruto, how are you today?"** the giant set of teeth spoke in a mocking tone, chuckling slightly after they were done.

"Why am I here." Naruto asked softly, with it sounding more like an order than anything.

"**You, Naruto, actually summoned me. I just brought you here,"** the teeth spoke, then leaned down so his red slitted eyes were as close to the gate as he could get them, "**so, the question is, what do you want?"**

Naruto looked at him blankly, then looked down to the now waist high blood-water. He lifted his hands out of the stuff, watching as it flowed off his hand and back into the bloody sea. "I want to be alone, I don't want to trust anyone anymore; help me do it, fox."

A great laughter bellowed from behind the cage as the pure white teeth opened, and then snapped shut. "**You really are trying to order me, aren't you?"** he said, looking into the unyielding dark blue eyes of Naruto, and he chuckled. "**Fine, I get my way one way or the other. Did you see that collapsed tunnel? That is where your mind keeps all of you needless 'trust'. There is a giant spinning sphere in there. Break that, and you will never trust anyone but yourself again."**

Naruto turned around, and begun walking towards the closed off tunnel to his trust. The blood-water was up to his elbows, but getting easier to move through. He heard Kyuubi laughing behind him, but he didn't slow. He made it to the tunnel, and raised his hand towards the broken bricks that barred entrance. A great force blasted them clear, and he continued into the room. As he did, flashes of all of the good things that happened to him because of his trust bombarded him, but he didn't stop. He moved through the neck high blood-water until he could see the giant spinning sphere. It had many cracks in it, but it was still holding together. Naruto chuckled to himself as he approached it, raising his hand under the water to it, his fingertips peeking out of the mouth-level blood.

A sharp cry of "**Naruto!"** reached him, and he woke up in the forest, reaching up and grabbing the outstretched hand reaching for his face. His eyes snapped open, sporting a red tint for an instant, before reverting to blue and quickly locking onto surprised brown ones. Naruto said nothing as he stared at the young girl he had never seen before, then he let go of her hand. She pulled her hand back, but didn't leave.

"What do you want?" Naruto asked coldly, shocking the girl.

'Is this really the same kid from a few days ago?' she thought before answering. "I saw you laying here, and your hands were bleeding," she said, looking to his hands, "so I wanted to make sure you were fine."

Naruto stared at her for a moment, then brought up his hands. They almost didn't hurt anymore, but there was still blood on them. "…I'm fine." Naruto said angrily, remembering what caused the injury, and then stood up.

"Are you really okay?" she asked, standing up with him, "I saw you when you came in town, and you seemed… happier." Haku wasn't lying, and had been doing surveillance on them since they arrived.

He slid his eyes shut, and sighed. "… I thought I had friends, but I was lying to myself."

Her eyes widened in surprise, 'The ones he was with when he was fighting? They seemed close then.' "What happened?" she asked, honestly concerned.

His eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he looked at her, "Why would you care."

The girl tilted her head to the side, all of her straight black hair moving to her right, hanging in mid-air, and she smiled. "Because you look like you need someone to talk to."

Naruto stared into her eyes angrily, but softened after a few moments. He could see it in her eyes too, the pain of not being wanted, the fear of being abandoned. He sighed, closed his eyes, and looked up to the sunshine breaking through the high tree branches. "… It was Anko-sen-… Anko. She told me she doesn't want anything to do with me. She was one of my precious people… I thought she was different…" he said in a hurt sounding voice, looking down with a confused look at his red and black outfit. "Was this one of her jokes?" he said, feeling his hatred building again, "Is she laughing her ass off right now?"

The girl shook her head. "I don't think she is. Can you tell me exactly what she said?" she asked, sitting down on her feet and putting her hands on her knees. He looked down at her, blinked a few times, then sat down as well.

"She told me, 'I am no longer your sensei. I am no longer anything to you. I never want to see you again', and then she called me by my last name, and said 'I don't feel like looking at you anymore. Leave.'."

The girl nodded, closed her eyes for a second, and then looked to Naruto smiling. "She is trying to protect you. She was friendly before then, right? Something must have happened, and she is trying to help you by distancing herself. Precious people are hard to come by, but you can't lose them that easily."

Naruto looked into her eyes for a moment, then his face brightened a little. "Is that really it?" he asked, earning a small smile and nod from the girl. "… Thank you, lady! My name's Naruto!" the blonde said as he jumped to his feet.

She giggled, and stood up as well, "My name is Haku. And by the way, I'm a boy."

Naruto's face changed to one of pure shock. "What? Really?" he shouted, and Haku giggled again. 'But-but-but… He's cuter than Sakura!' "Uh… thank you, Haku." Naruto stared at Haku strangely for a moment, then ran off to Tazuna's.

Haku smiled, then picked up a flower basket from off the ground. 'I hope I don't have to kill you, Naruto-kun.'

* * *

Naruto walked to Tazuna's house, and saw Kurenai sitting in front of the door, staring at her hands, which were resting on her lap. She looked up at him, and her eyes widened, "What are you doing here?" she blurted out, surprise obvious in her voice, despite her trying to hide it.

"Is Anko-sensei still here?" he asked in a whisper.

She blinked a few times, then nodded and pointed to the house, "She's… still in there." Naruto nodded, then headed into the house, shutting the door quietly behind him. Kurenai just watched the door, amazed that Naruto had returned in a non-aggressive/non-depressed mood.

* * *

Naruto shut the door to Anko's room behind him, and saw Anko staring out the window, her back to the door. "I thought I told you to leave me alone, sis."

Naruto walked towards her, not saying anything until he was halfway to her, "I got that part." Anko's head spun around at a neck breaking speed, her eyes were wide and red, still with tears in her eyes.

"N-Naruto! Why… what are you doing here!" she stuttered out, grinding out the rest of her tears into the back of her wrist.

Naruto smiled and walked towards her, kneeling in front of her. "Anko-sensei… I know you were trying to get rid of me to protect me, but its fine. Whatever is bothering you, you can tell me. You can let me help you, because you are one of my precious people."

Anko shook her head, "No, Naruto, it's not—" but was stopped when Naruto hugged her.

"Whatever it is, let me help you." Her hands went up, and her fingers begun twitching. After a few moments of twitching, she grabbed him and shifted into a kiss. Naruto's eyes went wide as she grabbed a fist full of his blonde hair, and her abnormally long tongue… for lack of a better word, raped his mouth. Her tongue tasted sweet, and her lips salty, from dango and tears, respectively, no doubt.

She pulled him back, then pinned him to the ground, tying his arms together above him and his legs together beneath him with snakes. "A-A-Anko-sensei! W-w-what are you doing?" he shouted under his breath, unable to get the normal volume of his voice from surprise, and she smiled. She ripped his jacket open, and slid her hands up through his black undershirt and up to the back of his neck, tilting his head up for another rape of a kiss.

"I'm raping you," she whispered sexily in his ear after the kiss, and nibbled on it a bit before moving down to his neck. He gasped as she begun slurping at his neck, and dragging her tongue from his collarbone up to his the back of his ear. He yelped a little as she ripped his pants down, revealing his half-erect penis.

"An' that'll be enough of that!" a voice called from behind Anko, and she slumped to the floor. A gloveless Rogue was standing there, both hands stretched out.

"W-what did you do?" Naruto cried out weakly.

"Oh, ah'm sorry, were ya enjoyin' that?" she asked, pointing to his ¾ erect penis.

"No!" he shouted, blushing and squirming around, trying to hide his manliness.

"Ya want me ta continue where she left off, ya say?" she asked, showing off her fox-like smile. "W-what!" Naruto shouted as Rogue strode sexily over to him, knelt down to his crotch, and reached her hands out.

Naruto, still tied up, could only verbally protest. "No, Rogue, stop it!" he yelled, sounding a little un-manly, and she pulled up his pants.

"Ah'm actually offended, Na'to! Ya thank I would really do such a thing?" Rogue asked with mock outrage, smiling at his cute and red embarrassed face.

"Sh-shut up! What else am I supposed to think! …Is… is Anko okay? Your thing didn't hurt her, did it?" Naruto asked, looking over to the unconscious Anko, lying on her side with her purple hair fanned out over her face.

Rogue put her gloves on, and turned to look at the unconscious Anko as well, "Nah, ah just took some of her chakra. She should be fine in a little bit." Rogue turned back to Naruto, pulled the snakes currently binding him off, and helped him up.

"Th-thanks, Rogue. I think she was really serious this time." Naruto said, kneeling down next to Anko.

"Ha! Ya can bet your over eager manhood she was." Rogue said, grinning as the blushing blonde looked away.

She wasn't aware of it, because she avoids touching people enough to notice a difference, but she had absorbed the need to tease Naruto from Anko, like she absorbed Naruto's fox-like smile and super-hearing ('member when she heard them on the boat?). The need to tease him will run out soon, but as long as she touches Naruto every so often, she will keep the smile and heightened senses.

Naruto begun fixing his clothes, luckily Anko didn't cut his jacket and pants open. He adjusted his pants, undershirt, and jacket back to comfortable positions. "Um… what are we supposed to do now?" Naruto asked, looking up to Rogue after he fixed everything.

"Ah don't know. If ya really want ta, though, we could continue what she started. Ah just wasn't inta rapin' ya. Well… against ya will, anyway. If your inta that, though…" she said, looking at him through her streak of white hair as he took a step away from her, getting ready to run, and picking his blush back up.

"Pfffthaaahahahaha!" she laughed insanely loud, holding her stomach and arching back a little.

After a few seconds of laughter, Kurenai walked in. "Anko, did you two—" she started, but was surprised to see that it was Rogue laughing. She looked around the room, and saw a blushing Naruto and a passed out Anko.

"…What… what happened?" she asked, looking from her sister to Naruto, and then back to Anko.

* * *

Kurenai, Rogue and Naruto were sitting at the kitchen table as they told her the whole sequence of events.

"So… she was raping you," Kurenai said, and Naruto gave a red-faced nod, "And Rogue helped you," and Rogue gave a nod while grinning at Naruto's embarrassment. "…Well, Naruto... that was why she said what she said earlier. She said she wouldn't be able to control herself around you, and you didn't deserve to have someone like that as a sensei. She wanted to cut herself out of your life completely. You came back unexpectedly; she probably wasn't able to suppress her feelings."

Naruto nodded, and looked back at the room she was resting in, "So… she will be like that when she wakes up?"

Kurenai frowned. "…Probably. As long as she has time to control herself, and you don't hug her again, she should be fine."

"God, I'm right here!" a voice called from behind Naruto, and he looked up to see Anko smiling down at him. Before he could do anything (run), she grabbed him, wrapping her arms around his neck. He yelped and Rogue started taking off her gloves. She moved her head to his right ear, and sniffed him with her eyes closed, then repeated the action on his left side. She opened her eyes, and looked to Kurenai with a smile. She let Naruto go, then walked back into the room. They all exchanged curious glances, and Rogue put her gloves back on.

Some movement could be heard in the room, then Anko came back out, wearing her tan trench coat again and radiating happiness. She sat down in the unoccupied chair at the table, and smiled. "Anko… are you okay?" Anko nodded. "I'm fine now. I don't feel any of that anymore!" Kurenai's eyes widened a little.

"Then that means…" Kurenai started, and Anko nodded.

"Yup. I'm not leaving," she said, then turned to Naruto, "and I'm sorry. For what I said, and what I did… Even though you seemed to be enjoying that last bit."

Naruto blushed again, "NO! No I wasn't!" and Rogue and Anko laughed simultaneously.

Rogue and Anko looked at each other after their laughter died down.

"So this is Rogue?" and she nodded, "Then where are the other two? Ichigo and Luffy?"

"They're still sleepin'. They can neva' wake up 'till late." They looked at each other for a moment, both wearing slightly cocky and happy grins.

"I like you kid! And as a gift, I'm gonna give you full access to Naruto!"

"What!" Naruto shouted, and tried to run, but a hand on his shoulder kept him seated.

"I'm just kidding. You're way too sensitive. Besides, everyone knows you belong to me," Anko said, lifting her hand and rubbing his whisker marks with her thumb. Anko flicked her eyes up to Rogue, who had an amused smile on her face, and was leaning back in her chair. "So you don't like him too?" Anko asked her, switching to the back of her fingers rubbing Naruto's cheeks.

He started purring, and had his eyes half closed. Everyone looked at him with surprise, and Anko kept doing it. "…No, ah do… Ah jus' went through some of ya memories, and ah know you're jus' saying those things… for… a..." Rogue was saying, but stopped as Naruto's purr got louder as Anko started scratching his cheek, and he begun leaning into her hand, "…reaction…"

"This is awesome!" Anko elated, scratching him a little deeper and looking to Kurenai and Rogue, "You guys gotta try this! Its like he's a Cat!" she started scratching lighter, pulling back a bit, and he moved his head to follow her hand, trying to get scratched more.

Naruto started to drool a little, and his crescent shaped eyes were glazed over. Anko scratched for a moment longer before pulling away completely. Naruto stayed like that for a second, then stopped purring. His eyes opened, and returned to normal. "W-what?" he moaned like he just woke up, looking around then wiped at his mouth, "What is everyone looking at me like that for?"

"Did either of you know he did that?" Anko asked, and they both shook their head in unison.

"Know that I did what?" he asked, wiping the remainder of the drool from his chin.

"That you could purr," Anko said, a smile making itself known on her lips.

"What are you talking about? I don't purr."

"Ah'm sorry ta break it to ya, shugah, but you purr. You were doing it for about a minute, too."

"No I wasn't… of course not, why would I purr!" he reassured himself, and Anko smiled a little wider.

"I don't know, but lookit!" she said, and begun scratching his cheek again. He started to protest, but found it hard to think straight, and started falling back into purring mode.

* * *

Hinata and Sakura woke up at the same time. The sun was up, but for some reason, Kurenai-sensei hadn't woken them up. She woke them up the previous two days, so they expected it to happen again, but apparently they were wrong. They both stretched as they got up, then got dressed, as they wore their pajamas since they were indoors.

Hinata had light blue frog print pajamas. The frogs on the pajamas looked identical to the little frog Naruto has for a wallet. She also had a sleeping green frog cap, it had round eyes that popped out from the hat a bit, round red circles for cheeks, and a tongue that stuck out of the mouth and hung down to Hinata's forehead.

Sakura had dark red pajamas, with white circles on it. The circles were varying sizes and shades, and often overlapped one another. Sakura didn't have a nightcap like Hinata did, but she had tied her hair up, like she does every night, into a small bun at the top of the back of her head, to prevent her hair from being a mess when she woke up.

After they shed their pajamas and Sakura her bun, and replaced them with their normal ninja gear, Sakura spoke. "What do you think happened? Wasn't Kurenai-sensei going to wake us up?" Sakura asked as they headed for the door.

Hinata nodded. "M-maybe… maybe we w-weren't needed?" Hinata suggested, and followed Sakura. They continued in silence, wondering about it, but coming to no conclusion, until they reached the dinning room.

They saw Naruto and Kurenai sitting opposite of each other, but Naruto was slumped across the table to Kurenai, with his head lifting off of the table, purring, and Kurenai scratching his cheeks with both hands. Kurenai was blushing slightly, and looking lovingly down at Naruto. "K-Kurenai-sensei?" Sakura asked, and Kurenai looked up to them. She made no other reaction to their presence for a second, and then her eyes went wide. She stopped scratching Naruto, who's head fell, hitting the table, and she sat upright with a serious look. She was still blushing, and coughed into her closed hand, then spoke.

"Ahem… Sakura, Hinata… W-what is it, did you need something?" she asked, averting their eyes and trying to go back to the serious and in-control Kurenai they were used to seeing.

"Uh… what were you doing to Naruto?" Sakura asked while she and Hinata looked down to the still purring Naruto.

"Nothing! I mean… Nothing, why?" she asked, unable to be anything like her normal self.

"N-N-Naruto-kun's… p-p-purring?" Hinata asked, walking towards said blonde.

His purring had gradually slowed since Kurenai stopped scratching, and he had stopped purring completely at this point. After another second, he lifted off the table, and looked around, a glazed look in his eyes. After blinking and rubbing his eyes a few times, he was able to understand his surroundings.

"H-huh? What's… You! Will you guys stop doing that!" he said angrily, wiping drool from his chin and mouth, "Do you know how embarrassing that is?" Naruto gave her a mean look, than ran away, as the look in her eyes said she wanted to do it again.

Author's box

* * *

First I would like to say, 'ha!', because I'm pretty sure everyone thought, or at least a few of you, that Naruto was getting some. Nope. Oh, and Kurenai isn't into Naruto... yet... maybe never, but I don't really know. More than half of this story has been good While-I-am-typing stuff, I just type with a basic idea of where I am headed, and sometimes stuff gets added. But, damn, this chapter was kicking my ass. I had a difficult time flowing things together like I normally do (don't know if anyone notices or not), but I just couldn't do it. I had a hell of a time transferring him to Haku, but I was able to do it. The Haku to Anko scene was easy, but I had a hard time transferring him to the rape scene from there, you know, finding the right words and actions. I had to then transfer to the eventual Zabuza/Haku scene, which I couldn't easily do. I eventually decided to use the chapter end to launch me into the Zabuza/Haku fight for next chapter. So, yeah, wave ends next chapter, and somebody dies. And no, they don't come back. Can ya guess who it is? Put your guess in the form of a… that's right, you guessed it. A cookie! Ha! No a review please, I don't take cookies from strangers anymore, not after 2005.


	12. 11 Gained ally? Lost ally?

They got me… this one took me a little longer because I was held captive by the government. But! I was able to strike a deal! For two meals a day, unlimited bathroom access, and 1 hour a day on a computer, I'm gonna work with them. You know, tests and stuff. They're gonna test something called the 'Lobotomizer' on me tomorrow. Don't know what it is, but I can't wait!

Ho ha! Go me, chapter 11! And I was gonna have beta readers for this one, and I had narrowed it down from 15 to 6. I sent them all my chapter, but they were taking to long (I have insomnia, and I'm impatient). I gave them, like, 15 hours after they got the document, but I thought they would be faster. In the end, I just beta read it myself. Anyway, I think I messed up somehow last chapter. I expected someone to at least mention everything Anko said and the Kyuubi stuff… maybe that should have been end-of-chapter stuff. No one told me what they thought of the descriptive new me, either, so I fell back into the regular me. But, yeah… CHAPTERY GOODNESS!

but first... I'm sorry, monkey 3000. I didn't mean to upset you with false updates.

UPDATE, 07/03/10: This chapter has been beta'd by one 'Emotionally Unstable Fangirl'. Ho ha! she... or he... sometimes dudes pretend to be chicks online... anyway! This person said i didn't fail too hard with mistakes (her meaning, my words), so if you've already read the chapter, and are for some unknown reason reading this again, you might barely notice the changes.

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"Ah can't believe she really kicked us off of Na'to like that," Rogue complained as they walked through the city of Wave, just killing time.

Her purple-haired companion laughed. "Yeah, Ku-nee-chan gets like that sometimes. She pretends to be all cool and serious, but when she finds something she really wants… well, you experienced it first hand."

Rogue shivered, holding the sides of her arms and tilting her head down. "Why on earth, would ANYONE need a genjutsu like that? Ah was more 'fraid than ah knew ah could be."

Anko smiled, and put her hand on her shoulder. "Well, at least she went easy on you. I've seen her use worse ones on Jounin, than leave them like that for suggesting that she'd be better off in a kitchen than a ninja battle. She let you off quickly, you were only in it for a few seconds."

"Only a few seconds! Felt like minutes… longest few seconds of mah life!" Rogue said, shaking her head and brushing her hair out of her face.

"I think I should be safe here," they heard a familiar voice say behind them.

They turned to see Naruto, slightly winded, backing towards them. Naruto exhaled a relieved sigh, then turned around to face two predators, getting ready to pounce. "Huh?" was all he got before he was tackled to the floor by Anko and Rogue. "What? No, where'd you come from! Get off of me! Get… off… Purrrrrrr!" Naruto started to protest, but almost instantly fell to back into purring mode. Rogue and Anko where gleefully scratching his right and left cheek, respectively, Rogue without her glove.

* * *

Naruto got back a few hours later, more pissed off without hating anyone, he had ever been, and Rogue and Anko came with him, looking happier than they thought possible. Kurenai, Sakura, Hinata and Tazuna were sitting at the table when they arrived. "Oh, Naruto, you're back," Sakura said, looking curiously at the extreme contrast in their faces.

'Why does Naruto-kun… look so upset?' Hinata thought to her self, then turned a watchful eye on Rogue and Anko.

"Okay everyone, get ready. We're going home," Kurenai told them, getting up and straightening out her dress.

"Already?" Anko asked in a childish pouting tone, "Can't we stay a little longer?"

Kurenai shook her head. "No. Our job was to bring Tazuna here, and that's what we did."

Tazuna nodded his head sadly, looking down to his folded hands resting on the table. "Yeah… Gato won't try anything if I stop working on the bridge. I'm the only one left willing to do it, so If I stop, we'll be fine."

"We can't stay a little longer?" Naruto asked, and Kurenai shook her head again. Naruto was quiet as everyone moved to get anything they needed to leave, or anything they left in their rooms.

Kurenai got what she needed from her room, as did Anko, and they entered the dinning room to see that Naruto still hadn't moved. "Naruto? come on, we have to leave," Kurenai told him as she entered the room.

"No," Naruto said firmly, shocking Tazuna (Who was still seated at the table), Anko and Kurenai, "I'm gonna stay here."

"What are you saying Naruto, you can't stay here," Kurenai said taking a step closer as Hinata and Sakura entered the room.

"No, I have to stay and help these people."

Tazuna sighed and stood up, walking over to Naruto and placing both of his hands on both of his shoulders. "It's okay, boy, we'll be fine," he assured the young blonde, earning a small smile.

"No you won't. Besides, I have to help you," he started, and Tazuna's face twisted up into a confused expression.

"You have to? Why?"

"Because you look like you need someone to help you," Naruto said, copying almost word for word what Haku told him in the forest. He had a debt to pay, a favor to return. If not for Haku, and by extension, Wave, he would have lost all of his precious people.

Tazuna's face widened in surprise, and he took a step back, taking in the teen before him fully. He just stared at him for a moment, then smiled. Hinata and Sakura had inspired looks on their faces, and Kurenai and Anko were smiling; Anko was showing off all of her teeth and Kurenai had moved her red lips halfway up her cheeks, and they looked to each other.

"Kurenai-sensei… we really can't stay?" Sakura asked, looking to her with pleading eyes.

"J-j-just for a l-little bit?" Hinata continued, giving her a similar look.

"Well, we're going to stay with Naruto regardless," Ichigo said as he entered the house, with Luffy behind him.

"Yeah! Just let them try to mess with us!" The charcoal haired boy hollered, putting his right hand on his hat, adjusting it, and smiling in-humanly large, his teeth showing from ear to ear.

"So, ah guess that's settled then, huh?" Rogue chimed in as she entered behind them.

"So what now, sis?" Anko asked, turning to her adoptive sister.

She shrugged. "The Hokage couldn't stop them now. Well, I guess we're staying."

Tazuna smiled, tears threatening to make themselves known on his cheeks. He lifted his glasses slightly, and rubbed his eyes with his pointer finger and thumb. "Thank you, everyone... thank you."

Kurenai turned to Team 8. "Well, now that we're staying, I think I should tell you: Zabuza is probably still alive." Naruto's, Hinata's and Sakura's face's went a little pale as their jaws dropped.

"WHAT! I thought he died!" Naruto shouted, and Sakura nodded dumbly through her shock.

"Y-y-yeah, that m-masked person killed h-him." Hinata stuttered out in slight fear.

Kurenai shook her head. "I know, but it was most likely a momentary death. He used senbons needles, and he carried the body away. Those needles are mainly used for acupressure, and Zabuza was heavy. If he just took his head, then that would've been all the proof necessary to confirm the kill. I'm not 100% sure, but we should be careful."

* * *

"So Anko…" Kurenai asked her adoptive sister after the kids had gone out to town, "You're really back to normal?" and Anko grinned wide, showing most of her teeth while nodding.

"Yeah, but I think I know why I was like that," Anko said, turning her face into a more serious one, and Kurenai leaned closer, listening curiously to Anko's discovery, "it's because of Naruto. I thought about it after I went back to normal. I thought, 'what the hell is wrong with me? I was acting like… like Ino!', and that's when it hit me: What's the one thing me and Ino have in common?"

"Well… you're both loud, spoiled, and neither of you can read my books without blushing like a tomato."

Anko shook her head, completely dismissing the little shots her sister just took at her. "No. Naruto healed the both of us. Remember? Naruto healed Ino's head injury, and she was all over him. Then that happened with me after he healed my side," Anko said, holding her recently obtained scar, "maybe he's doing it. But, you know, by accident."

Kurenai face widened in surprise. 'Wow… Why didn't I notice that?' she thought, but then turned her head to the side. "Then what about Ino's memory loss? You followed her home, nothing happened to her then, and her father told us she suddenly went back to normal in the middle of training."

"…" Anko glared evilly at Kurenai, "… I don't know. I hadn't got that far. But isn't it possible? That it's because he healed the both of us right before it happened?"

Kurenai sighed. "Maybe it affects people differently. The Yamanaka clan uses a lot of mind techniques, so maybe it affected her memory, too."

They both just sat there, thinking about it for a second. "Never mind, it doesn't matter right now. We'll figure it out eventually," Anko said, then began grinning again, "I'm gonna go find Naruto. I feel like scratching him again!"

Kurenai looked after Anko as she left, her fingers twitching slightly. 'No, Kurenai; Leave him alone, he has enough right now with Anko and Rogue…' she thought to herself, then an evil smile came across her face as she pulled out one of her 'romance' novels, 'I can get him later, when there's no one to interrupt me.'

* * *

They decided to stay (as if you didn't figure that out), but nothing much happened for the next 3 days. Hinata continued trying to make shadow clones, but to her dismay, she couldn't make a functional one yet; she could never get much further than the messed up clone. But on the fourth day, something type-worthy…

It was drizzling lightly on the uncompleted bridge, and only five people were there today. "So it's just you four?" Tazuna asked, looking at the four teens before him.

"What'dya mean, 'just you four?' We're awesome!" the straw-hat wearing boy shouted, raising his fists in the air and looking angrily at the alcohol reeking man.

"Yeah, we're more than enough to beat anyone who messes with you, old man!" the shortest teen shouted, pumping his fist into the air, and grinning, his whisker marks moving to the side to allow his grin room to grow.

"*sigh*… Well, I guess it's fine then, but where did your sensei's go? One of them is normally here with you," Tazuna said, looking around with a slight bit of worry on his face.

"Anko was supposed to be here, but she needed to go get something from Kurenai at your house, I think." Ichigo explained. Tazuna sighed again, then got to work on the bridge.

"Ah don't think he trusts us all that much," Rogue commented, shaking her head slowly.

Ichigo was about to say something, but stopped as he noticed that a mist was starting to fall on the bridge. "What's going on?" Ichigo asked, and Naruto shook his head slowly.

"No… dammit, that's him, isn't it?" he said, and several Zabuza clones appeared around them.

"Remember me, kid?" they said right before they were each killed by a newly created Naruto clone, the water that held their forms splashing down onto the ground.

All of the clones looked down the bridge, and saw Zabuza standing there with the masked teen he saw earlier. "Wow. He killed them all with shadow clones. He must be pretty good, right Zabuza-sama?"

Zabuza chuckled, "Yeah, looks like you have a bit of a challenge, don't you?" and with that, the masked kid dashed forward, throwing multiple senbons at the clones.

Most of them got hit, leaving only three Narutos standing. The first one lunged at the onyx haired teen, but was killed. Through the smoke it created as it dispersed, a second Naruto charged in, pushing him off balance. Naruto then dispelled his clone and charged through the smoke; he attacked the raven with a high kick to the chest, which sent him flying back to Zabuza. The tall Jounin looked down at the teen, surprised at what just happened. "Haku, what are you doing?"

Haku stood up to address him. "I'm sorry, Zabuza-sama. I underestimated his strength. It won't happen again."

"Alright," Zabuza said, drawing his sword, and chuckling, "I'll finish off everyone quickly, and watch your fight."

"Thank you, Zabuza-sama."

"Guys, let me have this one. You guys protect Tazuna until Anko-sensei gets here," Naruto instructed, then turned to face the rising Haku.

Rogue was about to suggest she go with him, but Ichigo's hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Rogue, it's a guy thing. Let him do it. And besides, that big guy is going to be tough."

Rogue looked back at him angrily, but sighed after a mment. "Good luck Na'to," she whispered as she took up a defensive position around Tazuna. Ichigo and Luffy followed suit, Ichigo drawing his sword, and the wrappings on it glowed for a second before coming undone and falling to the ground.

Ichigo's sword almost looked like a butcher knife, only the size of his body, with the bottom tip, in front of his hands, pointed down slightly like a hook. The sword was jet black, and the blade of it was pure white. It's handle was wrapped in some type of white cloth, and the cloth that previously bound his sword, the same type as the handle, was flowing out of the bottom of the handle onto the ground. After he drew his sword, Ichigo's eyes took up a shining blue, as opposed to it's normal dull blue.

Naruto begun walking forward, and Ichigo started making plans with Luffy and Rogue. "Monkey, attack only when I got his sword busy; otherwise, he'll cut your arm off. Rogue, wait until I catch him, then grab all the chakra you can get." They both nodded, and concentrated on Zabuza.

Zabuza chuckled to himself, then appeared in front of Ichigo, swinging at him. The orange-haired swordsman blocked the strike, and pushed Zabuza back a little. "Chakra?" the masked Jounin wondered aloud, before he was forced to retreat to dodge a rubber-like fist that would've otherwise hit him in the temple. 'They have some unique abilities… but what about the girl?' he thought to himself, then decided to keep his eye on her at all times.

Zabuza made three water clones, in front of each teen, to test their strength. All three were almost instantly killed. Rogue took a moment to draw a kunai, but she wasn't far behind her teammates.

Zabuza nodded and smiled. "Not bad." He attacked Luffy this time, who bent over backwards just in time to dodge the sword. Ichigo didn't take long to come to his friends aide, though, and an instant later, he was crossing swords with Zabuza again. They exchanged slashes for a few seconds, when he was attacked by another rubber fist. He blocked it using the elongated handle of his sword, not even slowing in his sword exchange with Ichigo.

"You guy's really are interesting. Between your chakra sword, stretchy kid, and the girl who's waiting for an opening… it's almost a shame to have to kill you," Zabuza commented, then moved back slightly, swinging down on Ichigo for the overwhelmingly powerful finishing blow.

"GETSUGA TENSHO!" Ichigo shouted, swinging his sword upward, a giant surge of chakra coming from it at Zabuza. Zabuza cancelled his attack, and rolled to the side to avoid being obliterated. Zabuza looked down to the exhausted looking Ichigo, and heard him say, "Rogue, NOW!" he turned to face Rogue, but found he was held by something.

"What!" he shouted, as Ichigo's sword wrapping, the one that fell to the floor when he unwrapped his sword, was glowing blue slightly, and wrapped around him. A gloveless Rogue reached Zabuza, and was about to grab him, when he released an insane amount of killing intent.

"All right you little fuckers, time to stop playing ninja." Rogue, Ichigo and Luffy froze in place, and Ichigo was unable to hold Zabuza anymore. The wrappings fell to the floor, and Zabuza hit Rogue in the stomach with the handle of his sword.

"Aah!" she cried out breathlessly as she fell to the floor.

"ROGUE!" Ichigo and Luffy shouted out. Zabuza turned back to Ichigo and Luffy. Luffy had swung a foot at him, his leg stretching out, but before it could catch Zabuza in his head, he grabbed it. Zabuza turned around and chucked Luffy over the bridge and into the water.

"L-LUFFY!" Ichigo yelled, and tried to stand, but using that level of Getsuga Tensho, and then using his cloth trap took a lot out of him, and it would be about a minute before he was could move again. He didn't have anywhere close to that.

He propped himself up on his sword, and Zabuza kicked it out from under him, causing him to fall to the floor. Zabuza brought his sword up for the finishing blow, but he felt hands on his bare arm.

He turned, and saw a weak looking Rouge grabbing him, but he quickly jumped away. He looked at his arm, 'So she's a chakra drainer… strongest I've ever seen. She took a decent chunk with only an instant.' He looked up to her, and she no longer looked like she took a hit from him.

"Ichigo, ah'm gonna need some chakra, s'at alright?" she asked, and he nodded. She grabbed his sword, and touched his hand for a few seconds, lowering her chakra absorption as much as she could. She let go, and Ichigo rested back on the floor. She picked up his sword, and her eyes started shining green.

He smiled. 'Does she get abilities from people she touches? This might be fun!' he thought, charging his new opponent, sword poised behind him

Suddenly he jerked backwards slightly, he couldn't move forward. He looked back and saw that the ground had moved up and was holding the hole in his sword, leaving it no way to get out. He turned around, and was kicked in the side of the head, sending him flying across the bridge without his sword.

"Rogue, I got him. Go help Naruto." Anko said, waving her off, and throwing a wet and unconscious Luffy towards Tazuna and Ichigo.

Rogue looked over, and saw a giant formation of ice mirrors, and headed to it. 'Hold on Na'to!' Rogue thought as she approached the formation.

"You gonna lay down all day, ya eyebrow-less freak?" Anko called, and he got up, seething anger.

"I'll make you eat those words, woman!" Zabuza growled, getting ready to fight Anko.

* * *

Naruto walked towards Haku, then saw Zabuza disappear, and heard a clang behind him. his eyes widened, and he turned around to help his friends.

"Where are you looking, Naruto-kun?" he heard a familiar voice ask from behind him, and he felt a senbon needle on his neck, "You should pay more attention."

Naruto backwards head butted his assailant, and moved safely away from the senbon. Haku fixed his mask, then looked back to Naruto. "How do you know my name?" he asked, drawing out a kunai in his right hand, and settling into a defensive position.

"Can you and your friends leave? I'd rather you not die, but we will kill you if you don't walk away."

The spiky haired blonde shook his head, "I can't do that. These people saved me. Without them, I would've lost my precious people."

Haku's eyes widened slightly behind his mask. 'Does he mean me?' but was soon torn from his thoughts as Naruto charged him.

Haku jumped backwards, and in mid-jump, threw another senbon at Naruto. It caught Naruto in the right shoulder, and his arm fell to his side, limp and useless. The kunai dropped to the ground with a clang. "What? What's going on?" Naruto asked, ripping the needle from his body with his left hand.

"I have cancelled your ability to control your right arm," he said, bringing three more senbon up in front of his mask, "it will take you an hour to be able to use it again. Surrender now, and I won't kill you."

"NO! I won't give up! I'm gonna be the Hokage; how could I lose to something like this!" Naruto shouted at the long-haired boy, and Haku sighed.

"I'm trying to save you…" he said, then appeared in front of Naruto, attacking him with the senbon. Naruto jumped away, throwing a few shuriken at him, and trying to mentally force his arm awake.

Naruto tripped as he landed, his equilibrium being slightly off, and fell flat on his ass. Haku saw the opportunity, and jumped up, throwing three senbon at his left arm, pinning the sleeve to the floor.

Haku landed, and walked to the trapped blonde, holding another needle. "Surrender now. This is your last warning," Haku said, looking down to Naruto, who was struggling to rip his jacket free of it's binding, "because I will kill you." Naruto looked defiantly up at Haku, and he sighed, "…Fine. If that is how it will be."

Haku knelt down, and aimed the senbon at an upward angle at his neck. "This will kill you without any pain," he said, but stopped as a hand shot up and grabbed his needle armed hand (Get the pun?). A sharp pain ran through Haku's arm, and he pulled away, jumping back.

He saw Naruto's arm pulsate red for a moment, before settling back to normal. Naruto removed the senbons from his sleeve, then got up. "If you don't fight me seriously, then it's gonna end up being you who dies," Naruto snarled, causing Haku to take a step back, feeling that his life was threatened.

Naruto charged Haku again, so he raised his hand, doing one-handed seals. As Naruto got close enough, Haku stomped his foot on the ground. Several ice spears raised up around Naruto from the water that had been drizzling down. "Wh-what!" Naruto hollered as he found all escape routes blocked.

'DAMMIT!' he bellowed through his mind, staring at Haku angrily.

"It's useless," Haku said, closing all spears in on Naruto.

"GETSUGA TENSHO!" they heard shouted behind Naruto, and a large crescent shaped wave came at them, destroying the entire left side of the spears. Naruto used that opportunity to escape, and continue his interrupted assault on Haku.

After a few blocked punches, Naruto managed to catch Haku. He went like he was going to punch Haku, and Haku moved to grab his hand, but he changed a fist to an open palm. He grabbed Haku's hand, pulled him forward, and when he was off balance, he caught him in the top of his head with a downward punch.

Haku fell to the ground, but pushed himself up and away from Naruto. "I've had enough of this. Demonic Ice Mirrors!" Haku said, and put his hands together. Naruto looked around him, and saw that there were ice mirrors raising around him.

"It's over," Haku said, walking into the back of a mirror, and suddenly, his image was on all of the mirrors, "I win."

A cut appeared on Naruto's cheek. 'What?' Naruto thought a split second before he was feeling his skin being cut all along his body. "Argh!" Naruto cried out, raising his arms and trying feebly to shield himself from the onslaught of needles cutting him up from every direction. The needles stopped, and Naruto looked up, seeing Haku standing in the mirrors looking at him.

"You won't be able to escape. You will die here." Haku said, his voice eerily echoing from each mirror."

"Oh yeah? Well you can shove those mirrors up your ass! I'm gonna be Hokage, you can't beat me!" Naruto shouted, putting his fingers together and making several clones who tried to run out. Haku's reflections all drew senbon needles, and begun their second barrage. All of the clones were killed, and Naruto was left with many needles sticking out of him, lying on his back.

"… I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, but I have to kill you now." Haku said, stepping out of a mirror and approaching Naruto.

"GETSUGA TENSHO!" Haku heard someone shout, then turned to see another crescent shaped chakra wave coming right at him. Haku dashed backwards, and into the safety of his ice mirror. He saw the girl with the green and yellow outfit rush in, and stand protectively over Naruto with the sword the orange-haired kid had earlier.

'How is she here? How did she get away from Zabuza-sama?' Haku thought, then saw Zabuza off to the side. He was fighting the spiky purple-haired Jounin. 'Oh… well, it looks like Zabuza-sama wasn't able to watch me after all…' Haku thought, then turned his attention to Rogue. She was nervously looking around at all of the mirrors.

Haku's reflections all drew senbons, and started their third assault, when Rogue quickly put her right hand in front of her face, pointer and middle fingers extended upwards. The long white cloth that was resting on the floor shot up into the air. Haku was all ready out of his mirror, and couldn't stop.

When his left leg came into contact with the cloth, it stuck to him, and the rest of it wrapped up his leg, and around his left arm, holding him in mid-air. "Got'cha!" Rogue shouted, pulling down on the cloth, slamming Haku into the ground.

The fall caused the mask to come loose, and hitting the floor removed it completely. Rogue jumped on him, and grabbed his face. "Rogue, STOP!" Naruto shouted from his spot on the ground.

Rogue let go of Haku. "What? Why, Na'to? She's the enemy."

Naruto shook his head, and started getting up, making it to his knee, "No… he helped me… a lot. Don't kill him," the struggling blonde said, removing the needles from his body.

"He?" Rogue asked, looking at Naruto with confusion on her face.

"Yeah, he looks like a she, but he's not. Just don't kill him." Naruto said, and Rogue looked back down to Haku.

Rogue put her fingers lightly on Haku's face, "Ah'll just take enough chakra ta stop this jutsu." After a second, the mirrors all turned back into water and splashed into the ground, so Rogue let go.

"I'll go check on everyone else. Rogue, stay here and make sure he can't get away." Rogue nodded, and Naruto started off towards where everyone else was fighting.

* * *

Zabuza heard a splash, and turned to see that Haku's mirrors had been dispelled, with two people were standing where the mirrors were. 'Haku?' he thought, 'Did you lose?' but he was too distracted for too long. A stinging sensation went through his neck. He turned to see a snake retreating to where Anko was standing.

"You're unable to fight anymore. Resist and we will kill you."

'D-damn… I'm sorry… Haku.' Zabuza thought, as his arms and legs went numb, and he let himself drop to the floor.

"GYAAAHHH!" he heard a woman scream. They turned to see Rogue being impaled through her chest by a sword. There was also a large crowd of people behind her, mercenaries by the looks of them.

"It's about time!" they heard an annoyed voice call as Rogue slumped to the floor, "I almost got tired of waiting. You ninja's and your fights always take to long." A short, stubby little man walked through to the front of the crowd. He was very small, so small that it looked like someone stole his shins, forearms, and entire lower half of his spine.

"No! Rogue!" Ichigo shouted as he tried to get up again to aide his friend.

Before he was able to get up, Naruto turned to him with a smile. "It's fine. We just have to beat them, cause I can heal her."

"And what about this one?" the vertically retarded man shouted out with disgust, "Grabbing my arm like that earlier? Filth!" he finished, then kicked Haku in the face.

Zabuza eyes widened. A rage he never felt before built up in him, and he stood up. "Hey, woman. Do you have any snakes to let me move again?" he asked her, and she scoffed. "I have to be the one to kill him. and he isn't paying me to kill the old man anymore, so I have no reason to kill any of you."

Anko looked at his back for a minute, 'He has the nerve to even ask with his back to me!' but slid a snake out of her sleeve. Another stinging sensation went through his neck.

'Huh… I'm still a little numb. Of course she wouldn't automatically trust me.'

Zabuza moved to his sword, shattering the earth holding it with a kick, and picking it up. He begun running towards the group of mercenaries, and Gato started to panic. "What are you doing? Protect me!" he shouted, scrambling cowardly to the back of the crowd.

One swing sliced 12 of the mercenaries in half, raining blood down on him and making them all see why he was called the 'demon in the mist'. Most of them instantly lost their morale, but that didn't stop the ones in-between Zabuza and Gato from dying.

Zabuza grabbed the little man by the head, lifting him into the air and bringing him over to Haku. He smashed the wriggling man down next to Haku. "**Apologize!"** he snarled, nearly scaring the man into emptying his bladder and intestines.

"S-s-s-sorry! I-I'm so sorry, f-f-forgive me!" he whimpered, and Zabuza shook his head.

**"Good thing Haku isn't here. Probably would tell me to let you live."** And with that, Zabuza threw the man up into the air, a good 20 feet, and as he came down, he was sliced in half.

Naruto had made it over there at this point, and was healing Rogue. "What are you doing, brat?" Zabuza asked sadly, picking Haku up in his arms.

"I can heal people." The spiky-haired blonde stated, glancing up to the large Jounin.

Zabuza's eyes widened. "Could… please, I'm begging you kid, can you heal Haku?" and he got down on his knees, offering Haku over to Naruto.

Naruto looked over to him, then shook his head and looked back to Rogue, "Can't heal what isn't injured. Rogue here only took some of his chakra so he wouldn't fight back."

Zabuza just sat there, looking at Naruto, when his eyes widened a bit. "You mean… Haku is still alive?" he asked, and felt movement in his arms.

It was Haku nodding. "I'm sorry to have worried you, Zabuza-sama."

"Fool. Who was worried about you." he said, dropping him to the floor and turning his back to him.

"Ow," Haku grunted as his head hit the floor.

"Oh, I'm sorry, are…" Zabuza started, turning around, but noticed what he was doing, and turned back around.

"So you are a nice guy!" Naruto said happily, helping Rogue up to her feet.

"Shut up, kid, or I'll kill you too."

Haku giggled. "Thank you, Zabuza-sama." Zabuza looked back at Haku, then put his sword down, and walked towards Anko.

"Hey, woman… can I ask you a favor?" he asked her, and she grinned, raising one eyebrow. "Can you take Haku to Konoha, and make sure she gets treated well? She has never been part of a village, so she's not a missing nin. I'll go with you, I'll turn myself in for collateral. I just… I'm not sure how much longer I can protect her."

"Wait a minute…" Naruto said, as he and Rogue, who was carrying Haku, followed Zabuza to Anko, "I thought Haku was a boy?" and Zabuza looked back at him like he had three heads.

"How? How did you… Oh," he said, realizing exactly why he thought that. "Haku… Haku is too kind. She never wants to kill people; She tries to get away with only paralyzing enemies, only killing when she has to. I've killed a few people who I found out tried to rape or molest her… of course, Haku could deal with them easily, but I made sure they would never try it a second time. She has been doing it a lot lately. She will tell people she's a boy so I don't have to kill them. She didn't want you telling anyone there was a cute girl hanging around."

Naruto looked confused for a second, then looked like he understood. "Oh, so it's like when I pretend to be a girl!"

Zabuza gave him a bewildered look. "You… pretend to be a girl? How the hell is that anything similar!"

Anko shook her head, "No, he got it right, he's just not good at explaining stuff. Many people hate him, so he disguises himself as a girl with a jutsu so he isn't recognized."

Zabuza nodded, still looking at Naruto strangely. "Oh."

"Well," Anko said, putting her hands on her hips, and moving her lips to the right side of her face in a thinking manner, "I guess we could take you and her in. I have to ask Kurenai first, though." Anko then looked to Rogue. "Naruto healed you?" she asked, and Rogue nodded. Anko smiled, "Sweet. Okay, everyone gather all your stuff. Lets go back to Tazuna's place. We are probably leaving today."

* * *

"… Anko, he's a high ranking criminal. You understand that, right?" Kurenai asked, rubbing her left thumb over her right over her eyebrow.

"Yeah, but I could tell he was a good guy. When he thought Haku died, he was all crying and stuff," Anko explained energetically, causing Zabuza to growl out at her.

"I was not crying."

She waved him off, and turned back to Kurenai. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!" Anko pleaded, "They seem like awesome people! We capture Zabuza and bring Haku somewhere safe. Everyone wins!"

Kurenai sighed, then looked over to Zabuza. He looked pissed off, and Haku was standing beside him, smiling. Kurenai stared at them for several moments before sighing again. "Fine, but I have to put you both under genjutsu. If you accept those terms, then I will agree."

Zabuza was about to refuse such outrageous demands, when Haku spoke for him. "Deal."

"What? Haku, what are you doing! We have no idea what they will do while we are defenseless!" Zabuza yelled, but Haku shook her head, and looked to Naruto.

"Naruto-kun will keep us safe."

"How do you know?" Zabuza asked angrily, trying to calm himself and lower his voice a bit.

"Because I can tell, he won't let any harm come to us." Zabuza looked back and forth between Haku and Naruto, then growled a little, but said nothing else.

"Alright," Kurenai said, standing up, and moving her hands into a flurry of seals, "see you in Konoha." Darkness fell over the two, and it would be a few hours before they woke again.

* * *

Everyone was jumping through the forest, Naruto carrying Zabuza, Sakura carrying Haku, and they were a few minutes from Konoha when Anko had everyone stop.

"STOP! Everyone stop!" she yelled, and everyone halted on that branch, or the next one if they couldn't stop stable enough. "Rogue, how do you feel?" she asked and Rogue looked at her with a confused expression.

"Huh? Fine, ah guess. Why?" she said, scratching the top of her head. Anko jumped down in front of her, and picked her up under her arm, "H-hey! What're ya doin'!" she hollered. Anko brought her over to Naruto, holding her out by her arm pits like a puppy, putting Rogue's face near Naruto's.

"W-what? What are you doing?" Naruto asked, not sure if he was in danger of something embarrassing or not.

"Now how do you feel?" Anko asked, pulling Rogue back a little.

"Like ah got a crazy snake lady holdin' me for no reason."

Anko's eyebrows drew together, and she looked at Kurenai. The crimson-eyed kunoichi shrugged, so Anko let her captive go. "Never mind! Lets keep going!" she shouted, jumping off to Konoha.

Rogue and Naruto stood there for a moment, looked to each other then shrugged. They continued off towards Konoha.

* * *

They made it to Konoha, and heard screaming and yelling coming from beyond the gates. "What on earth…?" Kurenai asked as they saw a large crowd just inside the village. Everyone stayed hidden in the depths of the trees, not approaching the gate until they understood what was going on. It was all inaudible, their screaming and yelling, to everyone but Naruto.

Shouts of 'demon' could be often and in-between other hurtful words or phrases he had heard all his life. His whisker and scar marked face adopted an expression of fear as his survival instinct kicked in: he got a little lower on the branch, and tuned his senses to his surroundings, as he was used to surprise and back attacks. Naruto's breathing had speed up a little, and everyone could hear the short and ragged breaths he took.

"Naruto?" Sakura called out to him, reaching her hand out to him. He turned around and cut her arm with a kunai. "Aaah!" she screamed and pulled her hand back. He looked at her with a fearful expression, one she had thought Naruto incapable of producing, before jumping down to the floor, dropping Zabuza in the dirt, then running towards the village.

The crowd recognized him, and attacked. Naruto zigzagged through glass bottles, rocks, kunai, and shuriken, escaping through the side of them and losing them amongst the rooftops.

Rogue and Hinata jumped down, and headed after him. Luffy and Ichigo turned to each other, exchanging surprised looks, as they hadn't expected his treatment to be that bad, then were right behind them.

"Sakura, before you go, he didn't mean to hurt you," Kurenai explained, placing her hand on Sakura's shoulder. The pink-haired kunoichi turned to her with a worried look on her face, she gave Kurenai Haku, then headed after them.

"See? If you didn't make me signal home, no one would've known we were coming," Anko muttered, looking angrily down at the crowd that had begun running after Naruto.

"I know, but we had to. Go pick up Zabuza, and come with me to Hokage's office. we'll give him the quick review, then go look for Naruto, got it?" Kurenai instucted, and Anko nodded.

* * *

Hinata and Rogue were together with Ichigo and Luffy, but Sakura lost too much time, and was on her own. She searched alleyways, steering clear of the mobs scattered throughout the village. 'What the hell are these people doing!' she thought to herself as she headed to Naruto's apartment. She was eventually able to reach it, and looked inside to see if Naruto was there.

The door was broken into several pieces, as if someone busted through it and then stomped it until it was no longer a door. His apartment looked a mess; there was broken glass everywhere, any furniture he had was busted up and broken, and it looked like someone cut his bed in half, then in several other places to make sure it wouldn't be able to be slept on ever again.

That is when she heard the sound of glass breaking. She turned, and saw a glass bottle flying though the window; there was some cloth coming out of the top that was on fire. Her eyes widened as she watched the firebomb hit the floor, and then the apartment was engulfed in a gasoline-irritated fire.

Author's box

* * *

Holy… where did that come from? I don't know, but it is petty awesome, huh? Now you know who died. So, you find out Naruto's healing is doing this (which some of you already guessed at), but then why is Rouge unaffected? Is there some key element that i'm not telling you? Hell yeah. Awesome fight scene this chapter too. But, yeah, the real reason this was late is because I thought up a badass plot point thing! At least 4 times as awesome as any point in this story already! it will take a bit to get to it, after Tsunade, and I was actually considering dropping what I was doing now, and skipping this story ahead to that point! I seriously was, but there would be some stuff that you guys had to know before that, and I ended up deciding to finish this story up to that point. Trust me, there is not a Naruto fan alive that won't love this idea I got! Oh yeah, and reviews are awesome. My story might be pretty awesome on it's own, but what happens when you multiply awesome by awesome? Chuck Norris. Review for Chuck Norris.


	13. 12 Riot

Oh my god… I just read through my story again as I was waiting for my beta's to be done… what the hell kind of crap have I been feeding you guys? I sincerely apologize to anyone who is reading this. I wasn't going to put this chapter up, but I already finished the chapter. I feel disgusted at myself for even producing such crap. You don't have to read this, just go find something better to do.

this chapter was beta'd by 'Emotionally Unstable Fangirl'

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

A cat masked ANBU was watching from an adjacent rooftop as Naruto's apartment burned. 'I got lucky… but how much longer?' Cat thought to herself, looking down at the man who threw the firebomb, a kunai sticking out of the neck of his motionless corpse, 'How much longer can I allow luck to keep my promises for me? What will I do when I'm not there next time, and he is…'

"Ow…" a voice groaned from behind Cat, so she turned to face the uninjured kunoichi.

The young teen looked up to her questioningly, "Who are you? What were you doing in Naruto's apartment?" Cat stared at her for a moment, then offered her a hand.

Sakura took it, and was pulled to her feet. "…I am normally assigned for Uzumaki Naruto's protection. I went to ensure that his apartment was safe for when he arrived. What were you doing there, Haruno Sakura?"

Sakura dusted off the back off her dress, then looked at Cat's mask. "When we got to Konoha, we saw a mob at the gate, and Naruto ran away. I was looking for him; I thought he might have run home."

"… I think I know where he is. Come with me." Cat said, as she grabbed Sakura's shoulder and shunshined away in a swirl of leaves.

* * *

Naruto speed across Konoha, mainly on the roofs, but he would drop into alleyways whenever he saw anyone else up on the roofs. He saw a group of ninja on a roof ahead of him, so he dropped down in-between two houses. It was a dead end alley, and he could hear a mob in the street the alley was connected to. There was also a door in one of the buildings, one that was beginning to open.

Naruto looked around the alley, but saw no trash cans or boxes he could hide behind. He braced himself to run, and saw a girl come out. She had a troubled look on her face on until she saw Naruto. "Naruto? What are you doing here?" she asked in a low voice, and saw him crouch down, looking ready to bolt.

"No, Naruto, it's okay! It's me, Tenten!" she said, kneeling down and looking at him at eye level.

His eyes were cloudy and darting around rapidly, searching for a way out. They just sat there, for several seconds, Tenten just looking peacefully into his eyes. He began to relax, standing up a little, "Tenten?" he asked, and she smiled at him.

"There he is!" came a shout from the street, and Naruto reverted back.

"No, Naruto, come here!" the dual bun wielding kunoichi said, gesturing him into her house. He snarled, then ran up the building, a few rocks hitting him on the way up.

"Are you okay girl? That demon didn't hurt you, did it?" one man asked, walking up to her with concern on his face.

She spun to them, outrage making itself known through her face and body language. "What the hell is WRONG with you people? Why are you attacking him?" she snarled, looking to the man who approached her.

The man looked to her with disgust. "What are you, a demon sympathizer?" with that comment, the mob behind him started to get riled up. A shout of "Get the demon's whore!" echoed through the alley, and Tenten was hit in the head with a good sized rock that left a bloody gash on her forehead.

'Shit!' she thought as she fell over into a trash can. They shut the door to her house as she fell, closing off her best escape route from the dead-end alley.

She attempted to get up, but the man that approached her in the beginning jumped on her. She kneed him in the crotch and he fell to the side, but three more men were on top of her in an instant, and another one stuffed a shirt in her screaming mouth.

She felt a hand on her breast, and her eyes went wide with panic. She thrashed against her attackers, trying desperately to escape, but to no avail. One of the men, the one who stuffed the shirt in her mouth, began licking her cheeks.

She felt like vomiting, but she then she saw a flash of red cloth somewhere overhead. The face she saw, one of a middle-aged man licking her cheeks, suddenly disappeared from sight, and she heard a sickening crack where the man had presumably moved to.

A black blur was seen over her face, and the man sitting on and molesting her went flying into the mob approaching her. She felt someone grab her shoulders, then pull her up and jump up to the roof.

She landed roughly on the rooftop, and looked up to an aggravated looking Naruto. "Oh… oh my god… thank you, Naruto… I-I thought they were going to—" she started, but stopped when he grabbed her, putting her over his shoulder and running away.

"N-Naruto! What are you doing, I'm fine! Let me go back home!" she shouted, trying to get out of his grip.

"Why? So they can realize you're in there and finish what they started?" he told her, in more of a statement than a question, with his voice dark, almost as if talking from experience, "I won't be there next time."

She stopped struggling. 'I… I hadn't thought about that.'

They had gotten a few blocks from the Hokage tower, when Naruto stopped and put her down. "Go tell the Hokage what they tried to do to you. You have to make sure he gets them now; otherwise, they'll just wait until everything calms down to get you again."

Tenten looked at him for a second, and she could feel the empathy in his voice. 'Has he… been through that before?' she thought to herself, as she still hadn't registered that all the mobs were after him specifically, or that he goes through things like this often. He looked around nervously, then ran away again.

* * *

Anko and Kurenai had headed off towards the Hokage tower after Sakura left them, Anko carrying Zabuza and Kurenai carrying Haku. They saw mobs scattered through the streets, all shouting things very anti-Naruto. Anko had the urge to throw an explosive tagged kunai into the center of every mob she saw, but Kurenai was able to talk her out of it.

"Naruto doesn't need you locked up for life, Anko," Kurenai tried to reason with her.

"It'll be fine, Kurenai, he'll be okay with it," Anko argued back, but Kurenai shook her head.

"Then what happens when a guard decides it'll be funny to mess with him, and tells him they rape you at night. Then he goes berserk and kills enough people so the council can really execute him," Kurenai explained, and after a few moments, Anko put away her kunais.

"Fine… but I am killing any that hurt him. Don't care what you say." Kurenai sighed, and agreed.

They came up on the Hokage tower, and entered. It was chaotic; chunin and Jounin were scrambling around everywhere, doing whatever it was they were doing. Anko and Kurenai had made it passed them, and to the Hokage's secretary. It was strange; chaos was everywhere they looked, except here. The woman's desk was neat and organized, and she was calmly playing a game of solitaire.

"We need to see the Hokage. We scheduled an appointment for right now. She looked up to them, recognized who they were, then pointed to the door with a card she was in the middle of moving.

"…need to stop this before Naruto gets here!" they heard the Hokage shout as they approached the door.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. We have stopped roughly half of the riots, but there are many more civilians than ANBU and Jounin, sir, and it will take another 20 minutes at the most. They all popped up at once… someone organized this. Someone with ANBU level information," a second voice explained in a calmly.

Kurenai had opened the door, and walked in with Anko. The eagle faced ANBU turned to look at her, as did the elderly Hokage. "Eagle, focus on ending this riot first. We don't need an incident with Naruto," Hokage concluded. The eagle faced ANBU bowed slightly, then shunshined out of the room.

Hokage looked around them, then to the people they were carrying on their shoulders. "… where are your Genin, and who are they?" he asked, looking from Anko to Kurenai and back again.

Anko answered. "Short version: Naruto got scared and ran away, Hinata and Sakura followed them, we have three other teens accompanying us to the village who wish to stay, this is Momochi Zabuza, and he offered to allow us to capture him if we took Haku in to our village," Anko told him, quickly reviewing the events of the previous week.

Hokage just stared at her for a minute, then looked to Kurenai. "Yeah, that's what's going on. We need to go find Naruto, so could you accept Anko's short version for now?" she asked, causing the old Hokage to sigh.

"… Fine, leave them here. Go, find Naruto. Gather him, your other Genin, and your guests, then bring them here."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," they said in unison, putting Haku and Zabuza down, then leaving to find all of their teens.

* * *

"So Hinata, do ya have any idea where he's at or anything like that?" Rogue asked her, as she had officially declared them lost. They were following him, with Naruto barely in range of Hinata's byakugan, but he eventually got away.

"N-no…" Hinata admitted nervously. She knew of several places he might go on normal days, but she had no idea where he hid. 'I don't think he would go where he regularly does…' she thought to herself, trying to narrow down the possible places he could be hiding, 'He's a genius when it comes to hiding, these people would know where he normally goes…' she continued, then started to get depressed as she realized why he was so good at hiding.

"Yooooo~, Hiii~naaa~taaa~!" a loud shout came from one of the nearby rooftops, tearing Hinata away from her depressed thoughts. She turned, and saw Team 7 standing on a rooftop. Shino had a mass amount of bugs coming from his jacket, swarming down on a mob in the street.

Hinata changed course, as did Rogue's group, and they headed towards the loud blonde that was waving her down. "Yo, Hinata! Over here!" she yelled again, as if they didn't already notice her, as they approached.

Kakashi looked to Rogue, Ichigo and Luffy with a lazy looking eye. "I haven't seen them before."

Rogue crossed her arms, "Ah aint seen you before, neither. Wanna make somethin' of it?"

Ichigo shook his head. "Damn near every time we meet someone, you do that. It doesn't look cool or nothing, it just makes you seem…" Ichigo was in the middle of expressing his opinion, when a glare from Rogue convinced him otherwise.

"Um… K-Kurenai-sensei said it was f-fine… t-they are moving into t-the village," Hinata explained. Kakashi gave them one last lazy glance before turning to Shino.

"Move on to the mob on the other side when you're done, Shino." Shino gave an almost non-existantly small nod, then called his insects back and sent them to the adjacent street, after the next mob. The entire mob Shino had brought his bugs from had collapsed, and Kakashi jumped down, grabbing a few of them, then hauling them back up to the roof.

A small whine could be heard coming from Kiba, and Akamaru, snuggly fit in-between Kiba's head and hood, turned around and crawled out of sight. Kiba sniffed the air, then turned to Luffy with a halfway confused and halfway disgusted face. "Hey, you: why does your chakra smell so creepy?"

Luffy had a puzzled look on his face, and cocked his head to the side at a 90 degree angle (the same as angle as a square, like perfectly sideways, for those who don't know math terms), "Creepy? My chakra's creepy?" he mused aloud.

"Yeah… if I could describe it, it's like not being able to move while there are snakes creeping through your clothes. Only, with the smell of your chakra."

Rogue had stepped towards the boy, removing her right glove. "Leave Luffy alone for ah leave ya in a hospital!" she growled at him, meaning every word of it.

Kiba turned to look at Rogue, and his nose twitched. He covered his nose and took a step away from her. "You smell like Naruto does…"

She stared at him, lip and left eyebrow twitching a few times: she dropped her glove she was holding, took of the other one and dropped it on top of the first, then quietly walked towards him. Ichigo and Luffy exchanged alarmed glances, then rushed forward, grabbing her by the arms and trying to drag her back.

"No, Rogue, you can't!" Luffy argued/yelled at her, trying as hard as he could to pull her away, as she was showing a freakish amount of strength at the moment.

"Ah aint doin' nothin', git off'a mah ahms," she said quietly and dangerously, continuing to move towards the cockily smirking Genin.

"R-Rogue! If you do anything, you won't be able to stay here! Do you remember why we're here in the first place?" Ichigo reasoned, and Rogue froze.

'…Na'to…' she mentally whispered, then looked Kiba square in the eye, "When ah'm all settled here, ah'm comin' back ta finish this."

Kiba snorted. "Yeah? Well, 'ah'll' be waiting."

Rogue stared at him, her knuckles loudly creaking under the strain she was putting on them by clenching her fists, then walked away, swiping her gloves off the ground.

"Kiba, she's seriously gonna kick you're ass. It'll be hilarious when she beats you; you know that, right?" Ino said, chuckling as Rogue put her gloves back on. Kiba snorted, and Ichigo and Luffy let loose heavy sighs of relief.

Ino turned to Hinata. "So Hinata, how have you been doing with Naruto? You had a whole week with him, are things going well? Hmm?" Ino asked her suddenly blushing friend, a sly smirk making itself known on her face. Rogue started to get even more irritated, Ichigo noticed, but she said nothing.

"Wh-w-what are y-you talking a-about…" Hinata mumbled, examining her fingers, which were twiddling together in front of her.

"Where is he anyway? Ami has been wanting to ask him something, and she wanted me to get him right when he got back," Ino said, looking around the nearby rooftops as if he was hiding somewhere, then her head snapped into one direction in particular, and she said nothing else.

"Um… w-where trying to find him…" Hinata informed, nervously examining the limits of her byakugan field for any sign of him.

"… He's that way." Ino said, pointing off in the direction her eyes seemed affixed to.

"How would you know? You were just asking us for directions," Luffy asked unnecessarily loud.

Ino looked to them, and Hinata thought her eyes sported a red tint for a split instant, before fading back into her normal sky blue, but dismissed it as her own eyes playing tricks on her. "How am I supposed to know? Actually… sensei, can I go with them to look for Naruto?"

"No," Kakashi answered calmly as he flipped though a page of the little orange book that no one saw him pull out, "this is a team mission. It defeats the purpose if you leave; we aren't a team anymore if you go off on your own."

"But you don't even need me here! Shino's doing all the work! Me and Kiba haven't done a single thing since we got the mission!" Ino argued, upset at the nonsensical reason he gave.

"In that case, I'll have you pick up the bodies and bring them up here," he said, giggling to himself at a certain part in his book, then becoming serious again, "… then you can be part of the mission too. You should have told me it bothered you sooner, there's tons of stuff for you to do."

Her lips twitched with anger, and she had to convince herself that attacking him would solve nothing. "… Fine… I'll stay."

Hinata giggled silently at the blonde's antics before headed off in the direction she pointed out. "I-I'll see you later, Ino."

* * *

Cat and Sakura landed just outside of a forest, the one that Naruto had learned the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu in. Sakura's eyes widened and she looked around. "Woah, you're really fast!"

Cat pointed her in a direction towards the forest. "Go that way, don't change your direction at all, and you'll find Uzumaki Naruto," the ANBU told her, and Sakura looked curiously up to her mask.

"Wait… you aren't coming?"

"… Do you need me to go with you?" she asked, looking down and watching the pink-haired teen as her face scrunched up in a thoughtful expression.

"… No, I can go by myself," Sakura concluded, unconsciously putting her hand over the cut Naruto inflicted upon her earlier, "I just assumed you were coming. There's not much other reason for you to have gone out of your way to bring me here."

Cat looked down at her for a moment, then up to the forest. "Not yet… soon…" she whispered, and then disappeared with a small gust of wind that blew Sakura's long hair around a bit. Sakura stared of towards the presumed direction the ANBU ran to, then back to the forest.

After a moment's hesitation, she headed in. She could see nothing but barely visible trees as she moved through the forest, as the branches overhead refused to allow any light, and it only continued to get darker. 'Did she really just trick me into walking into this stupid forest for nothing?' Sakura fumed, but the thought disappeared saw a light breaking through the trees ahead.

It was a welcoming sight, so she continued towards it. As she emerged though the trees, she walked into a beautiful garden looking area. There was light flooding down from the trees, illuminating a good 50-foot wide area of different flowers. In the center was Naruto, lying on his back with his eyes closed.

"Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?" he asked, then opened his eyes and looked at her.

"How… how did you know it was me?" she asked quietly, trying not to ruin the serenity of this peaceful section of the forest.

"I could tell it was you from your smell," he explained, flicking his thumb across his nose, "But… how did you find me? No one knows about this place."

"Oh," Sakura said, looking behind her, "there was this ANBU lady who saved me, she told me how to get here."

Naruto nodded, 'Was it that same lady? How does she know this place…?'

Sakura suddenly looked upset, "… Oh, and I'm sorry to tell you this, but someone burned you house down. That's how the ANBU lady saved me; I was in your apartment looking for you, and she pulled me out of there at the last moment."

She hesitantly looked up to the blonde, hoping he would not be too devastated by the news. He looked absolutely mortified. "No… I… I had a whole month's supply of ramen in there…" and Sakura face faulted.

Naruto then sat up and faced Sakura after she righted herself. "Sakura-chan… can you keep this place a secret? No one else knows about it… I don't want anyone else to know where I hide."

Sakura gave him a sad smile. "Yeah. No problem."

Naruto gave her a wide, fox-like grin. "Thank you Sakura-chan! Um…" he said, becoming nervous all of the sudden, "You… you can sit down if you want…" and he gestured to all of the flowers, "they make you feel all relaxed and stuff."

Sakura nodded, and walked into the field, "Thanks, I will."

That was when Naruto noticed a cut on her arm, and he remembered how she had gotten it, "O-oh… I'm sorry Sakura-chan, I… I didn't mean to cut you."

Sakura waved him off, "It's fine, don't worry about it," she told him, then laid flat out in a patch of flowers towards the center of the garden.

"Do you want me to heal it for you?" Naruto asked, raising his hands near his face. She looked from his hands, to his face, to his scarred eye, "… No, I'm fine. Don't worry about it; it's just a small cut." Naruto looked disappointed, but Sakura hadn't noticed as she was trying to pretend it was no problem and relax in the flowers. "You know, everyone is looking for you. We got worried after you ran, so we went looking for you. We should go back and find everyone, let them know you're all right."

Naruto was silent for about a minute, then he stood up. "…Yeah. Lets go." He then offered Sakura a hand. She took it, and her heart skipped a beat as she flew up to her feet so fast that she almost didn't realize she was off the ground. He grinned at her surprised expression, then walked off towards the forest, "Come on, it's this way."

* * *

Hinata and Rogue arrived at a forest, Ichigo and Luffy landing soon behind them. "This is the direction that little girl pointed, but ah haven't seen Na'to. Hinata? How 'bout you?" Rogue asked, looking into the trees that formed the forest in front of them.

"Y-yes… h-he's coming t-this way… w-with Sakura…" she stated, and Rogue started to look aggravated again.

Naruto came out of the forest first, and looked around nervously, Sakura coming out behind him a second later. "Huh? How does everyone keep knowing where I am?" Naruto asked, completely bewildered at how his secret spot seemed to be public knowledge.

"I-Ino told us wh-where you were…" Hinata explained, somehow managing to be the first to answer, despite her especially timid nature around this particular blonde.

"Huh? Ino? How'd she know…? Oh well I guess it doesn't matter… Have the… the people calmed down?" Naruto asked looking back towards the village, as he could still faintly hear shouts.

"Nah, not yet; Most of 'em are gone, those masked people were going around, putting them all ta sleep or something," Rogue explained, looking back towards the village as well.

"Can… can we just stay here until they're done?" Naruto asked, fidgeting a little.

"Of course we can, there's no hurry," Ichigo said, easing himself down on the grass, "They should all be gone pretty soon, those masked dudes work quickly."

* * *

Everyone sat down on the grass, and a relaxing silence fell on the group. After several minutes of peaceful silence, Sakura spoke up. "I wonder what caused everyone to riot like that?" Sakura asked as they watched the clouds slowly pass overhead.

"Its because of me," Naruto admitted, and everyone looked at him, "it's always been like this. but its normally smaller."

Rogue shook her head and sat up, "No, Na'to, it's because of them. They're teeny brains aint fit ta handle when someone's different."

Naruto sat up and looked alarmed at her. "… You… you know why?" he asked/demanded in a panicked tone, and she shook her head.

"Nah, ah don't know. Ah want ta wait 'till you're comfortable with me, and tell me on your own. Ah didn't take it from your memories."

Naruto grabbed his chest and puffed a sigh of relief. "U-um… It doesn't make s-sense… w-why would anyone w-want to hurt N-Naruto-kun?" the pale-eyed Genin asked, looking out to the village, and Rogue put her hand on Hinata's shoulder.

"It's called stupidity, shugah… it's not supposed ta make sense," Rogue told her, then Anko and Kurenai landed in the clearing.

"Jeez, we've been looking everywhere for you guys, and you're just chillin' in the forest..." Anko sighed as she walked towards them.

"Come on guys, we need to get to the Hokage tower," Kurenai told them, and everyone stood up.

"Um… are… are the people still in the streets?" Naruto asked, and Anko shook her head, her purple hair whipping around her head due to the unnecessary speed at which she shook.

"Nah, they're all gone," Anko said after her hair settled, and Naruto exhaled a relaxing breath.

"Lets go, we are running kind of late," Kurenai said, and everyone nodded, then took off in the direction of the Hokage tower.

* * *

"So… you wish to move to Konoha to protect Naruto?" the Hokage asked, after regaining his composure. He had never in his wildest dreams expected a situation like this. And after the repeated neglect and hate Naruto was subjected to, such a completely opposite attitude towards Naruto was quite surprising.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Mah friends and ah have had similar troubles, and wish ta help Na'to any way we can," Rogue explained, trying her best to be polite so as not to piss him off and get denied.

"Okay. And, who are you exactly?" the pipe wielding Hokage asked before lighting it.

"Uh… m-mah name? It's… N-Nagasu Rogue… ah changed mah name, so you might not find a 'Rogue' if you look for her…" Rogue admitted, and Hokage looked at her suspiciously.

"Um, ojii-san… could you not look into her past too much? There's something about her dad she doesn't want anyone to find out," Naruto asked, stepping forward half a step.

"Well… if Rogue here can tell me her original name, I promise to only verify that she is who she says she is. I will dig no deeper than that."

Rogue looked back to Naruto; he nodded reassuringly to her, and she nodded back. "M-mah name… it was Anna."

Hokage nodded, wrote the name down, then looked up to Ichigo. "And you?" he asked.

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, my name is Nagamaki Ichigo."

The Hokage nodded and wrote it down. "And you?" he said again, looking up to Luffy.

"I'm Luffy!" he said enthusiastically, grinning for apparently no reason.

"Your family name?" the Hokage said, taking a puff of his pipe.

"Uhhhhh, I don't know it. Strawberry found me, and we didn't know who I was, so they came up with the name Luffy for me!"

Hokage frowned for a moment, then smiled and wrote the name down. "Anything else about you three I should know? Kekki Genkais, past crimes, enemies, or anything else you can think of?"

All three nodded. "Ah have a Kekki Genkai. If ah touch someone, ah take their memories, chakra, and Kekki Genkai temporarily."

Hokage's eyes widened in surprise. "Wow, that's a new one. I don't believe I have heard of any Nagasu with that ability. Don't they just drain chakra from nearby people?"

Rogue nodded. "Yeah, mine was sort of a mutation."

"Like how the Sharingan came from the Byakugan," Kurenai explained, and Hokage nodded his understanding.

"Anyway, ah can't shut it off. Anyone ah touch could die after a few seconds. Everyone 'cept Na'to, of course." Rogue said, smiling his way.

"Do you know why he is unaffected?" the Hokage asked, taking another breath of smoke in. She shook her head, and he exhaled the smoke, then looked to Ichigo.

"Me? Oh, well its not really a Kekki Genkai, but this sword was made by my father from a meteor. It can channel my chakra easily. Its almost like a substitute for a hand seal, only I can't use it for jutsus… unless Getsuga Tensho counts."

"Well that's interesting. I have heard of weapons made from meteors, but none that could channel chakra like that," he said, examining the sword on Ichigo's back, still wrapped, then looked to Luffy.

"My turn! Well, I don't know where I came from, so I'm not sure what it is, but I can do this!" Luffy said, then punched his arm out about 10 feet in the air, almost touching the ceiling. His arm came back down with a snap, causing him to stumble back a little.

"… Well, I have yet to see anything like that either! You are all fine young people from what I can tell, and if I find nothing faulty in the information you gave me, there should be no problem; it's a pleasure to have you here in Konoha!"

Rogue breathed a huge sigh of relief, and Luffy and Ichigo smiled at her. "Now Naruto." the seasoned Hokage started, taking another puff from his pipe.

"Huh? What is it?" Naruto replied, curious why he was even addressed at the moment.

"I am sorry about what happened when you arrived. I knew that after your resurrection was announced, people would riot," 'Resurrection?' Rogue, Luffy and Ichigo thought simultaneously, and the Hokage continued, "and I didn't want you to be here when that happened, so I sent you with a mission as soon as possible. There were riots, like you saw earlier, after the news came out, like I had anticipated. I was not able, however, to anticipate someone leaking your arrival, and organizing these riots, and I am sorry you had to be here for that. But I promise you, I will find out who did this, and they WILL be punished."

Naruto waved him off, "Its fine. More importantly, did Tenten come in here? Did she tell you what happened?"

The Hokage nodded. "I'm very proud of you for that, by the way. And yes, the moment she came in and told me where they were, I went with my personal guard to apprehend them all myself. They will not enjoy the next few years of their life, and I will see to it they remember nothing of her."

Naruto nodded, and relaxed. "Well, that is all I needed the six of you for. Anko and Kurenai will arrange temporary living arrangements for the four of you." Hokage said, pointing to Ichigo, Rogue, Luffy and Naruto as he spoke. They all bowed, then filed out of the room.

"Now, about Momochi Zabuza and Haku," Hokage stated after the door shut behind the last of the teens.

Kurenai nodded. "I believe Haku will be able to live without issue in Konoha. She, from what Naruto told me, tried to have him surrender and run several times, as she did not wish to kill him. He also told me that when he was doubting his friends, and decided to be alone for the rest of his life, Haku helped him. I know, without a doubt, that without her help, he would have abandoned all of his friends. He could have also gone berserk, like he did in town a week and a half ago."

"And Zabuza?" Hokage asked, taking another puff of his pipe.

"Yes," Kurenai continued, "he seemed willing to do anything to ensure the safety of Haku. He won't admit it, but he cares deeply for her. I think if it were possible, with the proper precautions, he could be allowed some freedoms."

The Hokage stroked his pointy gray beard, thinking about what to do with Zabuza. "… If he appears stable, I don't think there should be any reason for him to not be able to live in the village. I'll have Ibiki check him, and we'll keep him locked up for a little bit, then if everything turns out fine, we'll let him live in the village."

Kurenai and Anko bowed slightly, then Anko spoke up. "There is also one more thing, Hokage-sama. Naruto… has the ability to heal people. We aren't sure if it's a Kekki Genkai, or if it might be an influence the Kyuubi has over him, but he healed me completely." Anko explained, moving her trench coat out of the way, and turning so that Hokage could see the cut in her mesh suit, and the deep scar underneath it.

"I had no idea Naruto could do something like that!" Hokage said as he inspected the scar.

"Yeah, but there's kind of a side-effect… we think." The seasoned Hokage nodded, adjusting himself on his chair. "It affects females… intensely. Maybe because it was such a large wound, I don't know, but after healing someone, they become highly attracted to Naruto."

Hokage's eyes became wide as plates, and he imagined what a certain white-haired man would do if he knew his godson could do that. He shook himself from the rather perverted route his mind had begun taking, and addressed Anko, "But… you seemed fine. Did anything happen when you were with him?"

Anko shrugged, "I think it only lasts for a limited time, but I almost raped him."

Hokage grabbed the bridge of his nose, pretending to be thinking, but he was actually preventing the nose bleed he knew his thoughts would lead him to. After he was able to lower his thought process to non-nosebleed levels, he looked up to Anko, "I understand… wait, do you know if anything similar will happen if he heals a boy?"

Anko's face screwed up into a strange smile, and Kurenai blushed. '…Twilight Eclipse, page 174, line 43…' (Kurenai don't discriminate! 'romance' novels are 'romance' novels.)

"No, not really…" Anko said, looking over to the almost drooling Jounin, "but it doesn't seem like an immediate possibility. After we get some more information, I'm sure you can test it out. Not letting anything happen of course, but the effects should be obvious within an hour."

Hokage nodded, then waved them off, "Thank you, your dismissed."

They both bowed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kurenai and Anko said in unison, then left.

* * *

They saw all six teens standing outside of the Hokage tower, talking among themselves about something or another, then Anko spoke up. "Wow, would you look at that Kurenai!" she declared loudly, causing everyone looked to Anko, "Our little family is getting pretty big, isn't it?"

Naruto smiled slightly, standing a little taller. "Now we have to think about kids don't we?" she continued, and everyone looked at her curiously. She then looked Naruto dead in the eyes, "I wonder who gets to be the daddy?"

Everyone but Luffy blushed, whether he didn't get it or it didn't have an effect on him, no one really knew. "Wh-w-what are you implying, you pedophile!" Sakura shouted, raising her fist to Anko. Hinata moved into a position where she could attack Anko if she appeared in front or behind Naruto. Rogue almost exploded at the purple-haired shotakon, but was able to stop her self, shaking her head, as she knew Anko wanted a reaction, and she was giving it to her. Ichigo chuckled to himself, "nice."

Anko put her arms up defensively, "Hey, hey, hey! I didn't say there could only be one mommy, did I? Everyone gets a turn!" she said seductively, causing everyone's blush doubled in intensity, and Sakura, Hinata, and Rogue sputtered. Another "nice," came from Ichigo. Anko, by this point, was radiating happiness, as their expressions and reactions just made her day.

"Anyway, you three," Kurenai said, bursting in on Anko's enjoyment, causing her to give a pouting look, "We'll put you into a hotel until you can get jobs. You all showed skill, so I'm pretty sure if you wanted, you could become ninja easily."

Everyone lost most of their blush, and looked to Kurenai. After a moment, Rogue's trio looked to each other, then nodded, looked back to her, and Ichigo spoke up. "Sure, let's be ninja."

"Good to hear. Now Naruto…" she started, and looked to the short blonde, "your apartment burned down, and we can't let you stay in a hotel by yourself, not with people still acting like this, so, you're gonna stay with us."

Naruto was nodding though her entire speech, up until the 'stay with us' part. He looked over to Anko, and he could have sworn he saw the twinkle of a pedobear in her eyes. "Don't worry, Naruto, she won't do anything," Kurenai assured him, turning to Anko, "cause if she does, she wont be able to eat dango for two months."

"What!" Anko said, her jaw dropping as she stared into Kurenai's unyielding eyes, "not dango… you can't do that! I'm an adult, you can't treat me like that!" Kurenai shook her head, "Anko, you're 24, and you're going to use now of all times to pretend that you're an adult?"

Anko was quite visibly upset, but after a moment of sputtering, she gave up. "… Fine, I won't do anything to him while he stays at our house." Kurenai smiled, then looked to Naruto. He felt reassured, but Hinata, Sakura and Rogue didn't, and they begun to express their protests.

* * *

Hokage looked down at Naruto and everyone else who just left his office as they were getting animated over something Anko did to Naruto. "I never held you to this job. You were just being too stubborn to let yourself into his life… or was it fear?" he said, and looked back to the woman. She was wearing a Jounin outfit and she had long, ice blue hair, reaching halfway down her back, and bright purple eyes. "He wouldn't have blamed you; He would have accepted you as family."

The woman nodded. "I understand now. I should have done this long ago." Hokage smiled, and handed her a scroll. She took it, and placed a Cat faced ANBU mask on the desk. "Fuyuki? That's my name now?" she asked, and looked to him with an 'are you serious' face.

"You don't like it? … I thought it was a good name…" he mumbled, an expertly faked depressed expression falling over his wrinkled face.

She stood straight. "There is no problem with the name, Hokage-sama. I just hadn't expected something so simple."

Hokage chuckled, then looked back out the window to Naruto. "… I hope this won't turn out to be too little, too late. I'm sure he'll be fine, but… never mind," he said, then shook his head and looked back to the ice-haired kunoichi, "You should get situated in your new apartment. Go introduce yourself when ever you feel is a good time."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Fuyuki said, bowed, then left the room.

* * *

So, um, I'm not gonna do this anymore. If anyone reading this story wants to take it, you're more than welcome to. Just pm me, and I'll send you my blueprints for the story. You know, like plot points and twists yet to be. Maybe they can salvage something from this fic. I would once again like to apologize for wasting anyone's time.


	14. NO! i'm sorry

WHAT? nononononono, i didn't mean it! i'm sorry, i got all emo depressed cause i wasn't taking my medicine, and i spouted lies! i was all looking back on my story, trying to see what i could do to make it better, you know? then i was reading other stories to see how i could improve, then i went all, "Oh my god, i suck, i'm a worthless bastard, i should just die...(actually, a lot like 'kid' from soul eater when you mention his hair)" and i posted something i didn't mean! his awesomeness is back though (... me, ya jackass, don't ask who!), and he's sorry. i'll give a proper preview to chapter 12 here, and i'll add an author's box... that doesn't seem like enough, does it? well then, i'll give you a clue about ichigo! read chapter 1. oh, and i apologize for getting anyones hopes up who thought they could get this awesome piece of awesomeness! so, yeah, "the awesome chronicles of Zidiane"(those awesome little snippets of my life i give you at the beginning), a preview and author's box stuff!

* * *

so, yeah, remember that 'lobotomizer' thing? totally not what i thought it was. it was like a giant death ray thing, aimed at my head. A.S.S. (the 'Amazonian Super Soldiers') came and saved mine, and i was able to finish this up before i left. i don't really know who they are, but i figure i'll ride 'em for as long as i can.

Author's box

* * *

so, yeah, a preview aint much good after you done read the chapter, now is it? oh well. uhhhh... well, i'll just combine this with the author's box. so, yeah, i gave you another clue to rogue this chapter, though i doubt anyone will pick it up. um... oh, yeah, Cat will now go by fuyuki. she will make an appearance soon, probably the chapter after next. neji's going to go all stalker on someone too, not gonna end well. what else? oh, and tenten! did anyone catch what i did with her? betcha didn't, but you should next chapter. if you don't... well... there's not much i can do then, now is there? 


	15. 13 Not Over

Well, I've been with A.S.S. this past week, and I've gotta tell ya, what a nice ride it's been! Nothing but chicks everywhere, and they all practically worship me! I'm like, some prophesized hero or something. they're cool with polygamy too, so, yeah.

OHHH NOEESSSSS! I had forgotten how hard it was to write chapters without reviews! I had plenty of them… well, plenty for me… anyway! But, yeah, most of them were trying to convince me to stay (or in one case ignoring what I wrote, and I one case supporting my hasty decision), and I got no feed back for the chapter. I wasn't sure if I should keep going with how I was doing or what, so I just kinda guessed. But I think I have leveled up as an author! It's like training before viridian city and learning ember (Nerd cookie to who ever instantly knows what I'm talking about)! Now I'm ready for viridian forest! Anyways, Uhhh… did anyone go back and read chapter one? Did you catch Ichigo's connection that I already made in the story? Uhhh… uhhh… STOP I have to tell you something before you start! You all are a bunch of perverts. Know how I know? I added the phrase 'Naru/harem' in my story summary, and my visitor count went up by an insane amount (insane for me)! don't get me wrong, cause I'm pretty much a pervert too, but still! Well, that's all, chapter time! Pshyche! Nah, I figured I would try these little OMAKE things people do sometimes, it's at the end. This one isn't especially funny, but it'll give you some foreshadowing!

This chapter was beta'd by 'Emotionally Unstable Fangirl'!

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"Anko," Kurenai called out to her sister, who was in the middle of attempting to feel Hinata up using Naruto's hands, "take Rogue, Ichigo and Luffy to get tested as ninja, then bring them to their hotel."

They had a short glaring battle, with Anko, of course, wanting to continue playing. She lost, though, and let Naruto go, drooping her head in defeat. "Fine, sis."

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief and disappointment. A part of her wanted Naruto to touch her like Anko was trying to make him do. A very small part, mind you, as the other 95% of her was against it. Not because she didn't want to be touched in such a place by her secret (to him) crush, but because she wasn't willing to do it in public, private, in the dark, in a house, on a train, with a goat… wait… no, that's green eggs and ham. She just wasn't ready.

"Sakura, Hinata, you are to go home and rest. We have team training tomorrow at seven; meet us at our training ground," Kurenai told them, and they nodded their understanding. "Naruto, come on. I'll bring you to our house." Kurenai said, gesturing for Naruto to follow her as she headed home.

Naruto looked around to everyone, and smiled slightly. '… Maybe I am starting to get a family…' he thought to himself, then jogged off after Kurenai.

Sakura and Hinata looked to each other, and then gave Anko a warning glare. "Oooohh, scary looks! I already promised I wouldn't do anything." Anko explained childishly, shooing them away with her hand.

They left, then Anko looked to the three remaining teens. "So what kinda test are we taking?" Luffy asked loudly, looking up slightly to meet Anko's eyes.

"Will we be able ta team with Na'to?" Rogue asked, looking up to her hopefully, only to be shot down when Anko shook her head.

"No, you can only have three people on a team, usually. Having a 6-man team with two senseis is too much," Anko explained, sounding almost mature when she talked.

"So, who will be our sensei? Will we be able to pick, or are they just given to us," Ichigo questioned, curious about whether they could avoid getting someone like Anko as a sensei.

"Nope! And, you aren't given a sensei. You get gave… got gave… given… the sensei gets you," Anko fumbled, then whispered under her breath, "Dammit, I almost sounded mature…"

The three teens watched curiously as Anko muttered to herself, then Luffy spoke up. "When are we taking the test? Can we do it now?"

Anko looked up to him with a puzzled expression, "Huh? What test?" then she raised her voice slightly, and her face popped with realization, "Oh, that's right! Your ninja test. Yeah, come on, lets go!" she finished, and then walked into the Hokage tower again.

The three looked at each other nervously, then followed her.

* * *

Sakura and Hinata lived in the same general direction when walking from the Hokage tower, so they walked together. They barely said anything to each other, and when they did, it was about meaningless topics.

"Hey, Hinata…" Sakura said as they were about to go their separate ways. Hinata turned to look at her, but said nothing. "What do you think of Rogue?" she continued, and Hinata brought her hands up, twiddling her pointer fingers slightly.

"U-um… w-what do you mean?" she asked, looking to her questioningly.

"What do you think of her: Is she a good person, do you hate her, does she make you nervous, that kind of thing."

Hinata fidgeted nervously. "U-um… w-well… I-I don't think I h-hate her…" and Sakura sighed.

"What do you think about her being around Naruto?" Sakura said, deciding that beating around the bush with Hinata was useless.

Hinata blushed. "W-wh-w-what? U-u-um…" she stuttered, trying to find a way out of this embarrassing conversation.

"I think she's being way too friendly. N-not that I _personally_ care…" Sakura verbally stumbled slightly, trying to deflect any possible misunderstanding, "I mean, he would be useless on the team if something happened, right?" she concluded, sounding more like she was asking herself than Hinata.

"Um… w-well… she m-might be acting a l-little too friendly but… I-I don't think s-she would do something t-to hurt N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata explained, nervously shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

Sakura looked upset at her answer. "I guess so…" she said, staring thoughtfully at Hinata for a moment before spinning around and continuing to her house, the action causing her hair to seemingly levitate behind her for a moment. "See you tomorrow, Hinata!"

Hinata fidgeted nervously for a moment before turning and continuing to her own house.

* * *

Haku opened her eyes in a dimly lit room. She was a little groggy, but she quickly shook that off to analyze her environment. She couldn't move, and there was an ANBU member backing away from her, returning his hands to his side. She hadn't seen what his hands were doing, nor saw where they were; she only saw enough to tell that they were brought to his side.

Another man walked up to her; he had a rough looking face, and had dark blonde hair, almost brown, in a long ponytail, reaching down to the middle of his back.

"Haku, can you hear me? You're in Konoha. You have been approved to stay here by Hokage-sama, but I need to do a mind check. We have to make sure that you are stable and not dangerous," the man explained, then paused, "Well, as non-dangerous as a ninja can be," he finished, chuckling at his choice of words.

The man stepped towards her, raising his hand to her head, when a shout came from somewhere beside her. "Haku! Get away from her you bastard!" a rough voice shouted. She turned her head to see Zabuza locked in a round, dome looking encasing protruding from the ground.

The only part of Zabuza she could see was his head, which was poking through an opening in the top. The metallic dome that was confining Zabuza had many dimly glowing blue engraved symbols on it.

Four lines of engravings trailed from the base of the dome, where they flowed from glowing handprints, up to the opening for Zabuza's head. Right around the opening, as well as four more times leading down the dome, the lines flowed into a horizontal ring of glowing runes. Only now, though, did Haku realize she was trapped inside an identical binding.

The man pulled his hand back slightly. "Momochi Zabuza, there is nothing to worry about. She will be allowed to stay in Konoha like you requested, but we need to make sure she isn't mentally unstable. Once we ensure that, she is free to go."

The man could tell Zabuza was visibly straining his whole body, even though only his head was visible. "Zabuza-sama," a soft voice spoke, and Zabuza snapped his eyes to Haku, "its fine. This man will do nothing wrong."

Haku, of course, was not sure of that, but if Zabuza continued to struggle, he would undoubtedly be harmed. She smiled gently at him, and he gritted his teeth. He made no further struggles, but it was obvious his body was still tense

The man turned back to Haku, and placed his hand back on her head. She, as he was surprised to learn, had no mental blocks. He had assumed that if she was traveling with someone as dangerous as Zabuza that she would have had some kind of mental protection.

'Well, this only made things easier.' he concluded as he sped through her mind. After about a minute, he pulled his hand back, and gestured his hand towards the ANBU standing silently in the back of the room.

The woman stepped forward, along with three previously unseen ANBU, and they circled the dome, kneeling down around it. They each flashed through several hand seals, then placed their hands down on the glowing handprints.

A clicking sound echoed through the dark room, and the encasing holding Haku pulled apart, splitting into four sections, breaking where the glowing lines formed. Haku stood up, wobbling slightly for a moment. She looked to Zabuza, and he scowled at her.

"What are you still doing here? Get out of my face," Zabuza said coldly, and Haku smiled.

"Thank you, Zabuza-sama."

Zabuza closed his eyes. "Shut up, brat."

Haku giggled, then walked out of the door an ANBU was gesturing her to. Her smile faded as she turned from him, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

The door closed behind her, and a dog masked ANBU stepped forward. "I have been ordered to take you to where you will be staying until you can find work."

Haku looked up to him, but did not move. "What will be done to Zabuza-sama?" she asked, her face drooping into a depressed expression.

"… Hokage-sama has ordered that if he is stable enough, he shall be allowed to live in the village. With you, if he so chooses."

Haku was still for several seconds, then her face brightened. "R-really? He will?" she questioned, and the ANBU sighed.

"Only if he is not prone to violence and the like," she explained, looking down into the teens hopeful eyes, "but if he _is_, then he will be kept imprisoned. Then, if Hokage-sama decides to give him a second chance, he would be rehabilitated. After a few years, he would be able to be released."

She smiled, and then relaxed. The jet-black-haired teen looked around, and saw she was standing outside of a large tower, the Hokage tower, although she didn't know that. She turned to look back at the ANBU.

"Thank you. I'm ready to go now…" she started, then paused for a moment and looked of towards the village visible through the small gate in front of her, "would it be possible to stay with Naruto-kun?" The ANBU just stared at her with bewildered expression, not that Haku could see it, so she elaborated. "Not if he des not want me, of course, but I would be more comfortable staying with someone I feel safe with than on my own."

The ANBU just stared at her a moment longer, then shook her head. "No. Even if he did accept, Uzumaki Naruto's house was burned down in a riot."

"Oh…" Haku whispered, her expression a mix between disappointment and sorry (like, when someone says "I'm sorry to hear that." I wasn't sure what the word to describe that was, so this will have to do), "where is he staying now?" she finished, looking back up to the ANBU.

"He is staying with a friend. I can say nothing else, now if you would follow me, I can show you to the hotel you will stay at."

Haku nodded, and then followed him into the village.

* * *

Anko and the three teens stood in a small training area, one with dry brown earth that barely had any grass and with few trees, not to far from the Hokage tower as they waited to be tested as ninja.

"So we're fighting to prove our skill?" Ichigo asked as he observed his surroundings in a bored manner, and Anko nodded, "Well, who are we fighting?"

"No, not 'we'. It's gonna be 'you'," Anko said slowly, as if talking to a slow child, poking him in the chest as she said 'you', "As in, Ichigo versus random Chunin, Rogue versus random Chunin, and Luffy versus random Chunin."

"Wait a minnit, why are we fightin' separately?" Rogue asked, giving her friends a nervous glance.

"Well, that's simple," Anko said, putting her hands on her hips in a superior manner, "It's because... *mutters indistinctly*"

The three teens looked to each other with puzzled expressions, then back to her, "It's because what?" Luffy asked, putting his hand to his ear and leaning towards her.

"… Well, it doesn't really matter does it? I kinda wasn't paying attention when they were talking about it. I was busy thinking about all the fun things I can do at home now that Ku-nee-chan brought Naruto-kun in, so just go do you best!"

Ichigo and Luffy looked to each other with worried faces, and Rogue glared angrily at Anko.

Anko was pretending not to notice, "I can wait 'til Ku-nee-chan is asleep. Then I can do that, and he won't be able to scream… then I grab his…" she said, grinning perversely and fondling the air creepily, "Heheheh… and then we can…" she explained, then shifted her pupil-less brown eye to a trembling Rogue.

Rogue was a deep red, from anger and the perverted images flashing through her mind, and she was clenching her fists. 'She's important ta Na'to. She's important ta Na'to. She's important ta Na'to.' Rogue mentally chanted, trying to calm herself and acknowledge she was just kidding.

This was turning out to be one of the best days Anko had in a long time, but before she could move her taunting any further, someone called to her.

"Mitarashi Anko? Are these three the ones who we'll be testing?" a voice called from behind her, and she turned to look at the voice.

Umino Iruka was standing there, along with two nameless Chunin. Anko only knew who Iruka was because he was one of Naruto's precious people.

"Yeah. Well, go on. Do your testing thing," Anko said, walking out of the clearing.

The three Chunin walked a fair distance from each other, then Iruka spoke. "The three of you can decide who you wish to be tested by."

They looked to each other, then separated. Luffy went to Iruka, Ichigo went to the Chunin with the ninja blade, and Rogue took the last one.

"Ready?" Iruka asked calmly as Luffy approached him.

"Yeah! Lets go!" Luffy shouted, and punched his right fist at Iruka's head. Iruka easily sidesteps to the left, but a sideways kick from the left foot was only an instant behind it.

Iruka grabbed the foot, and attempted a throw, but as Luffy's arm came back, it grabbed the scarred man firmly on his Chunin vests' shoulder. Iruka still had a firm grip on Luffy's leg, so the straw hat wearing teen yanked his arm and leg back.

Iruka was not expecting it, as fighting someone as unique as Luffy was difficult and unpredictable, and was brought sailing towards a grinning Luffy. As he got close, Iruka attempted to grab onto Luffy, and shift it to a reverse throw, but Luffy did something unexpected.

Luffy expanded, like a balloon, so he was completely round and about 5 feet wide in each direction. The impact with the newly expanded teen sent Iruka flying through the sky, but Luffy wasn't done yet.

Luffy punched both of his arms up towards the airborne Chunin, grabbing onto both of his ankles about 30 feet in the air, then tuning around and whipping his arms towards the ground. Iruka followed a moment later, slamming into the earth with a loud crash.

Luffy pulled his arms back, and looked to his friends. Rogue was done, and Ichigo just finished his opponent, who was holding his sword away from him as Ichigo's blade pointed to his throat.

Luffy turned back around, and saw Iruka standing up from the small crater and nursing his arm. "H-heh, maybe we shouldn't have held back… we looked so uncool…" the scar faced Chunin muttered to himself as he looked to his fellow Chunin, also completely defeated, then shook his head and sighed.

Anko walked back into the field, grinning with her hands on her hips. "Well, your combat abilities are somewhere between mid and high Chunin," the purple-haired spectator declared, "Now let's move on to all of your other areas."

* * *

Sakura made it home shortly after leaving Hinata. She greeted her parents and told them energetically about her first C-rank mission. She then made it up to her room, wanting to rest up a little before she had dinner. She dove back first into her bed, glancing at her bedside clock, it was about 5:20, and then sighed.

"It's good to be in my bed again," she told herself as she melted into her cozy, fluffy, comfortable bed.

She stared at her ceiling, smiling for a moment before her eyes found their way to the kunai she had stuck in the wall the night after Naruto died. It had a string tied to the handle, and at the end of the string was a little doll of her (Sakura) that her aunt made for her. The string was tied around the dolls neck, and it was swaying slightly.

"…" Sakura remained silent, staring into the dolls eyes as it hung lifelessly by the string and swayed eerily.

'**Now don't go getting all emo on me again!'** a familiar voice yelled from the depths of her mind, '**Everything's fine! It's all back to normal, so there's no point in going through any of this shit anymore!'**

Sakura ignored the voice, staring at the doll as it swung back and fourth. '**Stop looking at it, idiot! Are you making you're making yourself depressed on purpose?'** the same voice hollered, and Sakura closed her eyes.

'**There, that's better,'** the voice said calmly as Sakura took a deep breath.

With the breath, however, came an image of Naruto's face in her mind. The scar that ran along his face was oozing blood, and the thought 'My fault…' echoed through her mind.

'**No, dammit, stop that! That wasn't your fault! It was those ninja who—'** her inner self started, but was drowned out as that night came back, flooding out all of her senses.

"No, don't!" she screamed as he pushed her out of the way, preventing her from getting cut down, but no sound formed.

"Naruto!" she shouted as he was hit with the hammer for the first time, but no words escaped her lips.

"No…" she whispered soundlessly as the man begun striking Naruto again. CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. The sickening sounds of bones breaking, accompanied by the sound of ripping flesh and the squishing noise it made as his rib cage gave in completely, destroying the organs it protected.

"STOP!" Her voice seemed to reach no one, not even herself.

She felt hot, and she could feel movement. She opened her eyes, and heard herself crying loudly, her throat sore from screams and choked sobs. Her Sobs were racking violently through her small frame, and then she noticed two larger ones holding her.

She could hear something else, someone besides her saying something, but couldn't make out what it was as it was drowned out by her wails. She blinked, and could feel something hot stream down her cheeks. Her face was also getting very hot, seemingly to hot to be possible without it melting.

Then she noticed that her arms were wrapped around one of the two bodies holding her. Her face was resting on her shoulder, and she could feel something wet from her cheeks smearing on her shoulder

"It's okay, honey! It wasn't your fault!" she heard an elevated voice call, barely audible over her crying.

It went on like that for several more minutes before Sakura fell asleep from exhaustion.

* * *

"Hinata-sama, welcome home," one of the two sentries called from their place at the gate.

"Th-thank you." Hinata said, bowing slightly before passing through them into the Hyuuga compound.

Hinata continued through the front yard until she made it to the main building. She entered the building, and saw her father sparring with her younger sister. She stood quietly off to the side until Hinabi was knocked down.

She got up to her knees, coughing a little before standing again. "Hold, Hinabi." Hiashi said, and she took the time to catch her breath.

Hiashi turned his head to Hinata, changing his neutral face slightly into a scowl. "What is it." he said in a 'get to the point' tone.

"U-um… I finished my f-first C-rank mission, otou-sama," she said, and his expression had not changed, "I-I just wanted to report in."

He nodded, "Is that all? If so, I have better things to do," he finished, turning his head back to Hinabi. Hinabi nodded her readiness, and they begun sparring again.

Hinata looked down to her feet as she made her way out of the room and to her bedroom. She saw Neji on her way to her room. "Hello, Neji nii-san," Hinata said, bowed, then continued down on to her room.

Neji stared after her for a long moment, '… What happened? She… seems different…' he thought to himself, then continued on his way to report to Hiashi.

Hinata made it to her room, greeting a few more people on her way, and sat down on her bed. She looked around, examining her room, not really looking for anything in particular.

After a few seconds passed, she closed her eyes and fell back on her bed. A soft smile formed on her lips as she recalled the time she spent with Naruto.

After a minute or two of reminiscing, she sat up. "I should go see how Tenten's doing…" she whispered cheerfully to herself, and headed out of her room.

She passed through the compound without running into anyone, and told the front guards where she would be, and headed to Tenten's house.

* * *

An exhausted sigh passed though the lips of a normally energetic woman. "… So, basically," the kunoichi spoke as she scratched her spiky purple hair with a bright red pen, staring at a clipboard, "all of you're fighting skills are mid Chunin, and you have an almost perfect score for teamwork…. But everything else is barely first year academy student level."

The three teens looked to each other, then back at Anko. "What's that mean?" Luffy asked, speaking what the other two were thinking.

Another sigh. "…I'm not sure if you'll be able to be ninja right away. You might have to train for a year before you can become Genin. The three of you can barely even mold chakra."

Ichigo looked offended. "I can! What about my Getsuga Tensho?"

Anko shook her head, "Ichigo, you can only kinda do it with your sword, but it's more like you're throwing your chakra around than molding it. Like, look at this: give me your sword"

She snatched the sword from his back. "HEY!" Ichigo shouted in protest, but she jumped away from him, unwrapping the sword by hand, not knowing that if she pushed a little chakra into it, it would have unraveled on its own.

She jumped into the air. "Jaga Tensho!" she shouted, and slashed the sword towards the ground and away from the three teen spectators.

A large snake face, made out of chakra, formed from the downwards slash and rocketed towards the ground. It was at least twice the size of anything Ichigo was ever able to create, and it crashed into the ground, leaving a decent sized crater.

All three teens went slack jawed and wide eyed at the destruction Anko so effortlessly caused. She landed perfectly beside the crater, showing only the slightest amount of fatigue. She handed the sword back to him. "That's what I meant by molding chakra."

"… Tsk," Ichigo said after staring at her for a moment, then turned away from her with a pissed off expression. If he had done something half that size, the biggest he could make it, he would have been barely conscious. 'This… this woman…' he thought to himself angrily.

"Well, we've submitted your score's already, so the only thing left to do is wait until tomorrow," Anko said, putting the clipboard under her arm and walking out of the small training area, "Follow me, kids, I'm taking you home!"

Ichigo still looked pissed, but he followed without a word. Luffy and Rogue were still gawking at the crater Anko made, but quickly righted themselves and followed Anko and Ichigo.

* * *

Hinata made it to Tenten's house shortly after she left, running into no friends on the way. She knocked on the door three times, and waited. After about 30 seconds, Hinata knocked again. There was no immediate response, and Hinata was debating whether or not to knock again, but the door opened after a few seconds.

"Oh, hello Hinata!" Tenten said after the door opened, radiating happiness, "Haven't seen you in a while. Come on in."

"Sorry, Tenten," Hinata started as she entered Tenten's home and removed her sandals, "I got out of the hospital just in time to make it for our mission, and I wasn't able to come talk with you," Hinata explained as she followed Tenten into the kitchen.

Tenten begun making tea, looking to Hinata. Hinata nodded as she took a seat at the kitchen table, and Tenten took out two tea mugs.

Tenten had Hinata over so often that this was all necessary to ask if she wanted tea. Tenten had memorized all of Hinata's favorite types of tea; Tenten actually knew her so well that from the initial nod, she could tell what kind of tea Hinata wanted.

"It's fine, it's fine, no worries." Tenten said as she waved it off with her hand, and turned around to look at Hinata while leaning back against her kitchen counter.

Hinata leaned forward a little, staring intently at Tenten. "Tenten? What happened to your forehead? That scar wasn't there before I left, was it?"

Tenten reached up and grabbed the area above her right eyebrow, "Here? Oh, I was hit with a rock earlier, but it's fine," she said, waving it off with her hand.

"Forget that, how was your mission? Anything interesting happen?" Tenten asked, smiling uncharacteristically wide.

Hinata quirked an eyebrow up for an instant, then put it back and started talking. "Well, we met some new people and brought them back to the village."

Tenten nodded, still smiling, "That's petty cool, anything else happen?" she asked, and Hinata tilted her head slightly to the left, pushed her bottom lip up and her eyes moved up like she was searching the ceiling for answers.

She was in this thinking pose for several moment before blushing, "O-oh yeah…" she stuttered slightly, barely noticeable to even a ninja, glancing down to a now grinning Tenten.

"What? What happened with Naruto-kun?" she asked, crossing her arms and looking at her with extreme curiosity.

"H-how'd you know it was about N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata asked, upset that her friend guessed correctly, as she was about to try to spin it to something less embarrassing.

"Hinata," Tenten said, her voice changing to a tone one might use on a child, "I know you better than you do. You always stutter the second you think about him. Well… I can understand why, but tell me what happened."

Hinata blinked a few times, 'I can understand why? What does she mean by that?'

Tenten turned to grab the now ready tea, missing Hinata's curious looks, and brought it to the table. She poured herself a mug, then Hinata. Hinata took her tea, then Tenten sat down.

"So? What happened, tell me!" Tenten pressed, willing Hinata to go on with the look in her eyes.

Hinata shifted a little and picked up her tea, trying to avoid Tenten's eyes at all cost. It didn't work. The brunette seemed to have eyes that doubled as magnets, as pale eyes slowly inched their way to meet chocolate ones.

"… H-… H-Hinata-chan…" Hinata admitted after a valiant but futile fight, "… N-Naruto-kun calls me Hinata-chan…"

"!" Tenten's face popped open in surprise, then her smile crept back on her face, "When did that happen?"

Hinata shifted nervously, a blush creeping back up her face. Hinata explained the night she came out of her catatonic state, when Naruto first called her a precious person, how Anko helped her figure out what to do to get Naruto, her failed confession, Naruto helping her learn the Kage Bunshin jutsu and how he told her she was 'awesome'.

Tenten, Hinata noticed, seemed to want to talk about nothing but Naruto. She wouldn't let Hinata change the subject, always finding some way to bring it back to him. Tenten always talked with Hinata about him, but never this much. She also noticed that she was uncharacteristically happy the entire time, on the verge of being considered giddy.

"Well, I'm sorry for wasting so much of your time, Tenten." Hinata apologized as she made her way to the door.

"Not at all," Tenten said, waving her apology off with her hand, "you're always welcome here. And I enjoy talking with you about Naruto-kun, so its fine."

Hinata nodded, putting her sandals on and heading out the door, '...Something is wrong with Tenten…' she thought as she waved goodbye to her closest fiend.

* * *

Neji was sitting on the roof adjacent to Tenten's house, watching, via byakugan, the entire conversation. He could read lips, as could most Hyuuga, so he 'listened' in on the entire conversation.

"Uzumaki Naruto? Was it him who caused such a large change in Hinata?" he asked himself, standing up and watching as Hinata walked off towards the Hyuuga compound.

"I will have to investigate this further." he concluded, and headed back home.

* * *

Anko was jumping from roof to roof, heading back home to play with Naruto after dropping Rogue's group off at the hotel. She was about a minute away when she caught a flash of purple on a rooftop out of the corner of her eye.

She stopped, and upon closer inspection she realized it was Ino. Anko thought for a moment, then decided to go see what she was doing.

Ino was sitting with her back against a door that led down into the building she was sitting on. Anko snuck up behind her, on top of the door, looking down to see that she was reading a book.

Anko's eyes widened in surprise, then a small blush and smile crept on her face. "What'cha readin'?" Anko asked loudly, and she could have sworn she saw Ino's skin leap out in surprise.

Ino spun around, hiding the book behind her with her left hand, and holding her chest with her right. "HOLY CRAP!" Ino shouted, exhaling a deep breath, "You scared me half to death!"

Anko chuckled, then repeated herself. "What'cha readin'?"

Ino blushed slightly and looked away, "No-nothing."

"Oh?" Anko asked, putting her hand on her chin, "'Cause I thought that book looked familiar."

Ino's face got redder, "Nope! You've never seen it before!" she tried to convince the now grinning Jounin.

"Oh?" Anko repeated, scratching her head, "That book isn't about Gendo and Yui?"

Ino blushed a little harder, and shook her head, futilely denying Anko's suspicions.

"Really? That's one of Ku-nee-chan's favorite books. She brings it pretty much everywhere with her," Anko explained, "and I'm pretty sure that 'romance scene' is her favorite. She constantly reads it out loud when she's bored. 'Page 125, line 24' is how she'll always start."

Ino hung her head in defeat, and brought her hand from behind her back. She was holding a bright pink book titled 'A Shinobi's Appetite'. "U-um… K-Kurenai-sensei let me borrow it…" Ino explained, nervously avoiding Anko's eyes.

"Hehehe, I wasn't trying to intrude on your reading time Ino, sorry. You enjoy it, I'm going home," Anko said, and Ino's blush was reaching 'Hinata pass out' levels.

Anko left, giggling to herself, and Ino's blush kept strong as she watched her leave. She looked around nervously, then packed the book safely in her ninja-tool pouch and headed home herself.

* * *

Anko arrived home shortly after. She walked into her house, and kicked her sandals off quietly. She headed into the living room, and heard a familiar and comforting sound.

She saw Kurenai sitting on the couch, with Naruto lying down sideways with his head resting in her lap. Kurenai was blushing and looking down at Naruto with what Anko called her 'kiddy face', and scratching the cheek that was pointing up.

Naruto was purring loudly, his drool leaking out onto a thin blanket placed under his head. He had his arms and legs hanging off the side of the couch, but in a way so that they stayed suspended in the air as if something was holding them up.

"Ku-nee-chan," Anko started, causing her sister to look up to her, "… Put him to bed. If you keep him up like this, he won't be able to train tomorrow."

Kurenai looked back down to Naruto. "But he's already asleep," she protested quietly.

"Sis, you know he's gonna be upset when he wakes up, right?" Kurenai nodded absently, continuing what she was doing.

Anko let out a low sigh as she raked her brain for something to use to get her sis to let go of Naruto, then a light went off in her brain. "… If you let him go, I'll tell you something funny," Anko bribed, sitting down on their second couch. Anko, though she didn't realize it, was getting a little jealous. It was a cheap shot, as she would have normally told Kurenai what happened that day regardless.

Kurenai looked up at her, then back down to Naruto. She then scooped him up, snuggling him cozily against her chest, and then brought him to his room.

She came back out several seconds later, a gentle smile across her lips. "What was it Anko?" Kurenai asked as she sat back down where she was previously scratching Naruto's cheeks.

"I saw Ino today."

Kurenai smiled. "Oh really? How was she?" Kurenai asked, tilting her head slightly, crossing her legs, holding her right elbow with her left hand, and cupping her cheek with her right hand.

"Well, pretty good I guess. She seemed to be enjoying that book you lent her."

Kurenai's face twisted up in confusion, "I lent her a book…? I don't think so…"

Anko wore an identical expression as her sister. "Huh? You didn't lend her 'A Shinobi's Appetite'?" she questioned, and Kurenai shook her head.

"No, but she came by the morning before we left and asked me about it. I showed it to her the night Naruto came back, and she asked me what it was called. It was cute, she tried to pretend that her neighbor, Ami, wanted to know about it."

"So… I'm guessing she found some way to get a copy?" Anko thought aloud, chuckling slightly, "And she didn't want me to know she went looking for it, so she told me you gave it to her. Guess she didn't know we lived together."

Kurenai chuckled slightly as well. "I wonder where she got it from? Maybe her mom or dad has a collection of 'romance' books somewhere."

"Well, it doesn't really matter. I'll try and find her when she reading it again, and tease her some more." Anko declared, giggling maniacally.

Kurenai shook her head, and after Anko's little episode was over, she begun explaining the rest of her day.

* * *

The next day passed rather uneventfully, just regular training and a small D-rank mission for Team 8, but on the next day…

"Hokage-sama," a voice called after three knocks on the door to his office, "Mitarashi Anko and Yuuhi Kurenai are here."

"Send them in," the Hokage said through the door as he picked up his pipe.

They both walked in, standing side by side and facing him.

"Well, Anko, congratulations, a new team has come earlier than expected. Team 11 has just been formed, consisting of Nagamaki Ichigo, Nagasu Rogue, and Luffy. Their sensei is now Mitarashi Anko."

Author's box

* * *

NOOOOO, Anko… DON"T GOOOOOOO! Oh well, she's outta Team 8. nothing to be done now. Well, except review. So, yeah, Sakura's still pretty messed up about what happened. Sucks, don't it? If you agree, then you really won't like me in the next couple chapters. Fufufufufufufu… lets see… oh! I got an awesome story to tell ya'll! I was talking to my uncle about getting a job (cause I'm unemployed) where he works, but I told him I already had a job. He asked what it was, and I told him I wrote for a website. He scoffed, and asked how much I got paid. I told him that in the last 2 months, I got 108 reviews for my main project. Of course he laughed, but that's really how good your comments make me feel. It's like getting a paycheck, kinda. And, yeah, Review time! then I can go and read my fanfiction sensei's (Tristan76) first story, The Chosen One!

Oh yeah, and the reason I was late was because we was moving this week, and my computer got packed so I had to use the library. Only, you know, you only get, like, an hour and a half a day.

OMAKE: million dollar shinobi

In a dark room, a broken Sasuke rested upon a table. A man with a bandaged eye and a bandaged arm strung up in a sling stepped from the shadows. Several med-nins also stepped into the light, then towards the broken teen. The bandaged man opened his mouth as they circled the last Uchiha, and spoke.

"Uchiha Sasuke, Shinobi. A man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the Chakra. We have the capability to build the world's first chakra enhanced ninja. Uchiha Sasuke will be that ninja. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster"


	16. 14 Unexpected Event

NO, YOU BASTARDS! I was living perfectly content with A.S.S., and their polygamy loving selves, BUT THOSE BASTARDS! They will PAY! Apparently the government isn't done with me, and decided to nuke my A.S.S.! everyone is dead now… I will have my REVENGE!

Hoho! UPDATE! Yeah, I got my computer back, but the beginning was very hard to write for some reason. It took me, like, 4 days to get that done. I finished the rest of the chapter in a day, too. But, yeah, Vegeta and Nappa want to tell you something.

Nappa: Vegeta! What does the scouter say about his Visitor level!

Vegeta:WHAT! It's over TEN THOUSAAAAAANDD

Nappa: WHAT! TEN THOUSAND?

That's right bitches! Ten thousand visitors! And while some of you might be like, "I got that many visitor's the other day", I'm like, "TEN THOUSAND BITCHES!" now, with this realization, comes another. I only have 126 reviews right now. That's messed up man, I'm not feeling the love. Well, from the one percent that took time to tell me what they thought I am, but to the other 99%, that's cold… brrr…

Oh, and also, I'm not going emo again. I just wanted to tell you that before you read the next paragraph.

This one guy, his name was grayed out so I can't contact him, told me my story preview made me sound dumb… and now I can't stop thinking about it. He said that having 'realistic' and 'harem' in the same sentence contradicted itself, and made me seem dumb. I would have replied something along the lines of either, "and you would think using realistic in a fanfiction site would be your main concern", or "It's kinda like harem mangas, where there's one guy, and several girls who like him, but he doesn't know it. that's where my story is at now." I probably would have replied with both, but leaving me here to stare at it (summary), now I'm not sure. Can someone tell me what they think of the situation? And just to let you know, this will in no way shape or form impede my ability to update.

Sorry, I got one more thing to say. My fic, up to now, has been like a chess game, setting up the pieces before you play. Starting this chapter, the actual chess match will be starting. I appreciate everyone's continued support, and now it will all pay off… well, not right now, but it will definitely start now.

Update: This chapter has been beta'd by 'Emotionally Unstable Fangirl', and InsanityIsTheNewBlack! double that betas, double the fun!

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 21" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

"I'm a what?" Anko asked, blinking several times and elevating her voice slightly.

Hokage smiled. "You the new sensei for Team 11."

Anko was quiet for several seconds, then glanced to Kurenai. "Can I… can I refuse?" she asked, nervously looking to the Hokage, hoping he would let her stay where she was on Team 8.

"Refuse?" the Hokage repeated, leaning back slightly in his chair, "Anko… I just made you an offer you can't refuse (HA!)."

"Ye-yeah… but, I want to stay on Team 8." Anko argued stubbornly, and Hokage sighed.

He took a breath from his pipe, and looked to her with an aggravated expression, then exhaled the smoke through his nose. "Anko, you pestered me non-stop about getting a team. There were 5 other people who wanted this team, but I refused them so you could get it, and now you don't want one anymore?"

"Yeah…" Anko said, shifting around like a little girl being scolded at by her father, "I'd really like to stay on Team 8…"

The Hokage rested his left arm on his desk, and massaged his temple with his right hand. "Team 8 can no longer have two senseis; it was a special case that I overlooked temporarily because I felt like I still owed you for what my student did, but now there is another team ready for you. If you don't accept them right know, there will be severe repercussions."

Kurenai looked to Anko, saw how troubled she actually was by leaving Team 8, then sighed. "Hokage-sama," she started, interrupting Anko from accepting the new team, and stepping forward, "I would like to step down as Team 8's sensei."

The Hokage's right arm dropped to the table, and he stared dumbfounded as the crimson-eyed kunoichi continued, "I do not believe I can properly train Uzumaki Naruto, so I believe my skills will be better suited elsewhere: like Team 11. And since there are no longer two sensei's for Team 8, I believe Mitarashi Anko should take up the position of sensei. She has already formed a bond with Uzumaki Naruto, and she is an excellent teacher."

Anko took up a similar look as the Hokage. "K-K-Ku-nee-chan!" she stuttered out in surprise, "W-what are you talking about! You can't do that!"

"Hokage-sama?" Kurenai asked, staring at him in an unyielding manner, "This would eliminate Team 8's issue with having multiple sensei's, Anko gets a team, and Team 11 gets a sensei."

The Hokage put his right elbow on his right knee, with his palm holding his chin and his fingers covering his mouth a he stared at Kurenai. After a moment of staring, he sighed through his nose. "Fine. Team 11's new sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai. Anko will get promoted from sensei assistant to sensei."

"Thank you Hokage-sama," Kurenai said, turning and dragging the bewildered kunoichi out with her.

Before they left, though, the Hokage sternly told them, "Don't ask for any favors anytime soon."

Kurenai nodded her acknowledgement, then continued out the door.

Another sigh from the tired old man, "Good thing I hadn't filled out the paperwork in advance."

* * *

"…" Sakura stood in the doorway of a hospital room, staring at an empty bed.

"Excuse me," a woman said from behind her.

Sakura turned her head and stepped out of the way at the same time. The woman, wearing the standard Konoha nurse uniform, came in with a laundry basket. She approached the empty bed and tore off the sheets, dumping them into the basket, then she grabbed the pillow and blanket, dumping them into the basket as well.

She had begun making the bed with new sheets when Sakura decided to speak up, "Um, excuse me. Where did Sasuke-kun go? He was here yesterday."

The nurse looked back to her with a raised eyebrow, as if she hadn't heard what she said at first, then nodded. "He underwent a special surgery a few days ago, and he was released last night."

Sakura nodded, "Thank you." then left the room. '… So I guess he's fine now.' she thought to herself, and headed out of the hospital.

* * *

Rogue, Luffy and Ichigo were sitting in their hotel room, waiting, as they had been for the past two hours, for the news of what was to become of them as ninja. They had been told by Anko that the news would come some time between 11am and 1pm

"Damn, this place is boring," Ichigo sighed, his head slacked back as he rocked back and forth on the wooden chair by the window, a chair that made a small creaking noise every time he rocked back.

"Well, maybe ya should say it 200 more times. Ah think that'll definitely make it more exciting," Rogue growled at him in pure aggravation, looking up from her book to scowl at him.

He rolled his head to look at her. "… Rogue, gimme that book."

"Huh? Why?" she questioned, shifting her scowl into an unsure frown.

"Cause reading it will be less boring then listening to Luffy snore."

They both turned to look at Luffy. He was standing up off to the side, standing straight up, with his head hanging to the side, with a sleep bubble coming from his nose.

He wanted to be awake for when they got the news, but he was too tired. He decided to stand up, that way he wouldn't fall asleep. That was 1 hour and 55 minutes ago.

"No," Rogue said calmly, looking back down to her book, "you turned ya nose up at it earlier. You don't get ta read it now."

Ichigo rolled his head back to its original position staring at the ceiling, and begun rocking back and forth again.

Neither said anything for about a minute, then Ichigo spoke up. "Damn, this place is boring," the orange-haired annoyance sighed in the exact same manner he had since they had been told to wait there.

Before Rogue could go blind with rage and throw her book at the back of his head, three knocks echoed through the hotel room.

Rogue sighed, blew the white strand of hair out of her face, then got up to answer the door.

"Oh, Kurenai!" the teen greeted their unexpected visitor, "Are you the person they sent? Ah thought they woulda sent Anko."

She smiled, and handed Rogue a textbook sized wooden box.

Rogue took it, looking at it for a moment before opening it. There were three leaf hitai-ates in the box, "These are…" Rogue started, but trailed off.

Kurenai finished her sentence, "What signifies you as ninja of Konoha."

"That means… we made it! Yes!" she exclaimed, looking back towards Ichigo and the still sleeping Luffy.

Rogue turned back to Kurenai, "So who's our sensei?" she asked, looking around Kurenai on the other side of the door, "I don't see anybody else. Are they waitin'… wait, you?"

"Yeah, me. I'm the sensei of Team 11." Kurenai said with a smile on her face.

Ichigo was behind Rogue now, looking at Kurenai, "… Can you mold chakra like Anko can?"

Kurenai frowned at the strange question, "Well, 99.9% of ninja can mold chakra. If you're asking whose better, me or Anko, than I'm a little better."

Ichigo looked thoughtful for a second, then took one of the hitai-ates. "I look forward to you teaching us, Kurenai-sensei."

"Wait a minnit, ah thought you were Na'to's sensei?" Rogue asked, grabbing one of the hitai-ates.

"Yes, I was, but I was reassigned. The teams aren't normally supposed to have multiple sensei's, so when your team was created, it was decided that I would take it."

Rogue nodded, and Kurenai started talking again. "These are symbols of your village, so you need to wear these. You don't need to wear them as headbands; as long as they're visible, it's fine."

She looked back in the room to the still vertically sleeping Luffy. "Wake Luffy, put your hitai-ates on, then we will go to make your ninja profiles."

* * *

"Hokage-sama," an ANBU member with an eagle mask called after he shunshined into the room, "about those riots a few days ago…"

The Hokage looked up from his paperwork, and adjusted himself to a more comfortable position in his chair. "Yes, what do you have for me Eagle?"

The eagle masked ANBU pulled out a scroll, handed it to the Hokage, then started his report.

"We found a man named Takahata Kaworu; he appears to have organized that outbreak of riots two days ago."

"Where is this person now?" the Hokage asked, opening through the scroll and reading through its contents.

"Dead, sir. It appears he committed suicide. We do not believe he had the ability, resources or influence to actually organize any of this, especially with the information required to know about Naruto's return. There were several documents we found in his fireplace that had been destroyed, burnt to nothing, as well. We believe he was someone's puppet, and when that person was done with him, they killed him so he could not say anything."

The Hokage nodded as he continued through the scroll. "He was hanging from the ceiling when you found him… that could have easily been done by someone else. Did you check his body for any poisons or anything that would have rendered him immobile?"

Eagle nodded. "Sort of. The only thing we found was a small circular puncture wound on his neck, with slight discoloration surrounding the wound. There was not any sign of any foreign substance in his body, though."

The Hokage sighed heavily through his nose. "… Continue your investigation. Only you, with… Bear and Dog. Officially declare this case closed, let no one know of the continued investigation."

The ANBU nodded, "Yes sir," then shunshined out of the office.

The Hokage took his official Hokage hat, rubbed his hand over the top of his head, then put it back on. 'We will catch you, Danzo… and when we do, no amount of tricks will be able to save you.'

* * *

"Sakura!" an older woman's voice called up the stairs, "You have a visitor!"

Sakura came out of her room. "Thanks, ma!" she called as she glided down the stairs. It didn't really matter who it was at the door, she was just glad to have someone to talk to. Ino was never at home anymore, and she couldn't find anyone else that day. She was unable to visit Hinata at her house, and she really didn't know Tenten all that well.

Sakura made it to the door, opening it with a, "Hello, who's- Sasuke-kun?"

"Sakura…" he said, smiling softly at her, "There has been something I've wanted to tell you for a while now. If you would accompany me for a walk, it would make things easier to say."

Sakura nodded dumbly. "Ma! I'll be back in a little bit!" she yelled into the other room.

"Be back by dinner, sweety!" was her mother's reply, so she got her sandals on and headed out.

* * *

Naruto was at training ground 12, wearing his normal red and black pants but without the jacket, training as he did everyday he didn't have a mission. He was in the middle of fighting seven clones at once.

Battle cries could be heard sounding loudly through the training area as Rogue, Luffy and Ichigo approached. All three were sporting their new hitai-ates.

Ichigo had his tied on the bottom of his sword handle, so it was dangling down next to the white cloth that normally hung there. Rogue had hers wrapped loosely around her waist like a belt, and had scratched a small, almost unnoticeable if you didn't look right at it, X over the leaf, as she refused to completely represent a village that mistreated Naruto as Konoha did. Luffy had wanted to simply use it like a headband, but it kept getting in the way of his straw hat, so he tied it around his hat as one would around their head.

They had been told where Naruto was likely to be at this time by Kurenai, and after they completed all they had to do for their ninja profiles, Rogue headed for him, dragging Ichigo and Luffy with her. They stopped though, still out of sight, near the few buildings that marked the end of the city and the beginning of the training ground.

Rogue grabbed both of them by their necks, and dragged them with her to the corner of one of the buildings, peaking out around the corner of the building to see Naruto.

"Ow!" Luffy shouted, but he was more surprised than hurt.

"H-hey! What's going on!" Ichigo shouted, looking around to see if there was some unseen danger Rogue had just saved them from.

"Shush!" she hissed at them, then turned back to face Naruto. They both glared at the back of her head, then decided to look to see what she was hiding from.

They saw a girl with purple hair approaching Naruto. Naruto stopped training, scrambled to get his jacket, put it on, and then turned to her. They talked for a moment before Naruto scratched behind his head sheepishly, shrinking into himself slightly. "Who's she?" Luffy questioned. Ichigo just shrugged, but Rogue didn't make any indication that she heard him, staring intently at Naruto and this 'new challenger'.

They talked for a moment, then Naruto entered his thinking pose, grabbing his chin with his right hand and his right elbow with his left hand, then he shook his head. They talked a little more, then Naruto nodded happily. She said something, and he looked childishly upset, then followed her as she left the training ground, and dispelled his clones.

Ichigo and Luffy watched as Naruto left, looked to each other, then down to Rogue. She was shaking slightly, but made no movement, still staring at where they were standing.

"Uh… Rogue?" Luffy asked cautiously, not wanting to become the object of her wrath.

She was quiet for a moment more, then she stood up, "We're following them." she stated in a tone that left no room for argument or refusal. She jumped up onto the roof of the building they hid behind, using the adjacent building to wall-jump (like in games, when you wall-jump to get higher e.g. Mario, Metroid, Street Fighter(certain characters), Megaman, etc.) up to the roof.

Ichigo and Luffy followed promptly, not wanting to draw any unnecessary and potentially painful attention from Rogue.

They followed them using the roofs, making sure to stay quiet and upwind so Naruto couldn't detect them too easily. As Naruto and the other girl walked, they talked cheerfully about something. Well, the girl was cheerful; Naruto looked really nervous.

After about a minute of following them, the girl linked her arm around Naruto's, pulling him to her and resting her head on his shoulder, causing Naruto to look as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

Ichigo and Luffy could almost taste the anger and jealousy coming off of Rogue, but she said nothing, and kept following them. After a few minutes, they turned into a restaurant.

Rogue looked alarmed and took off her gloves, jumping down and running to the restaurants cloth flap covered entrance (Like the front of Ichiraku's). She looked through the flap, and saw Naruto looking around nervously. The place was pretty much empty, and they chose a table to sit at.

Rogue watched while they sat down, and saw who looked like the chef come out and take Naruto's order. Naruto was sitting at the table, nervously taking in the unfamiliar surroundings of a restaurant. The purple-haired girl grabbed his hand, and he snapped his head towards her. She said something, rubbing her thumb over his hand as she talked, and he looked like he relaxed a little.

Rogue kept watching, with people walking by outside and giving her strange looks, until the chef came back out with their food. The girl picked up a fork and begun eating. Naruto just stared at the plate.

The girl sighed, said something, then took some food from his plate with her fork and ate it. She chewed on, then swallowed it. She looked at him cheerfully, then said something.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, picking up his own fork and dug into the food.

Rogue sighed, then turned around and went back up to the roof with Ichigo and Luffy.

"What happened?" Ichigo asked as she sat on the roof, slumping against the railing going along the top of the building, feeling it was much safer to actually draw her attention.

"… Nothin'…" she mumbled while putting her gloves back on.

"Well, why did you go down there and take your gloves off?" Luffy asked, finding his voice again as well.

"…Na'to gets attacked, or poisoned, when he goes inta places. Ah wanted ta make sure nobody did nothin'."

"Umm…" Ichigo started, scratching the top of his head, "well, what are we doing now?" he asked, looking down to the restaurant.

"…" Rogue was quiet for several seconds, then she turned around to face the restaurant, "… We're gonna protect Na'to, jus' like we said we was gonna… when they separate, we're gonna make sure that girl aint jus' messin' with Na'to."

Luffy and Ichigo exchanged uneasy glances, then went back to watching the restaurant.

About 30 minutes passed before they came back out.

The purple-haired girl was walking beside a much more relaxed Naruto, clinging onto his arm as they headed off down the street.

They walked until they got to what was presumably the girls house. They exchanged a few words, then she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. He stumbled away from her slightly, not enough to break the kiss, and he blushed.

She pulled away, said something, and walked up to her house. Naruto smiled warily, then walked off in the direction of his temporary home.

The girl stood at her door for a moment, just holding the doorknob, and Rogue decided to use now to confront the girl. She jumped down with Ichigo and Luffy right behind her, approaching the girl. "Hey, can ah talk with ya for a minnit?"

The girl turned around. "Huh?"

* * *

Naruto was training, as he always did at this time, at training ground 12. He was currently in a 1-on-7 match against his clones. It was the most clones he could fight, without any weapons, without being overwhelmed. He still lost on occasion, but it wasn't an instant loss.

The clones were getting the upper hand though, as he made a mistake in attempting to anticipating one of his clones. Naruto was about to learn the hard way to never assume anything with Uzumaki Naruto.

Before actually catching the beat down, as well as being forced to admit defeat to his clones, a familiar girl came into the training area. "WHOA! Time out!" he shouted, fending off the few attacks from the clones that were in mid-attack.

One clone snorted. "Sore loser." Naruto looked around, saw his jacket on the floor next to him, then scrambled to put it on.

"What's up, Naruto," the girl greeted, smiling at him as he hastily zipped up his jacket.

"Hey Ami. What are you doing here?" he asked, straightening up to look at her.

"Oh, I just came to see how you were doing, Naruto. You were doing pretty good in that fight," she commented, looking to his clones, "Even if they're your clones, I've never seen someone fight seven people at once and not get instantly overwhelmed."

Naruto smiled lightly, looking away from her and scratching the back of his head, shrinking into his clothes a little. "Yeah, well… I'm used to it…"

"Oh… well, I hope I'm not interrupting you're training too much," she said, sounding more like a question as she looked over to his clones, watching as they started trying to playa seven-way game of rock-paper-scissors.

"Nah, we were almost done; I was about to lose anyway," he said, looking over at his clones as well.

"Well, are you going to do anything after this? Did you have anything planned?" she asked, and he assumed his thinking pose. He stroked his chin for a moment, then shook his head.

"No, I don't think so. Why?" he asked, curious as to why she would care if he had free time.

"Well, in that case, do you want to go get something to eat with me? I haven't eaten yet, and I thought you would be a good person to eat with."

Naruto grinned, and nodded enthusiastically. Ami smiled as well, "But no ramen."

His face dropped, "Wha~at? Why~?" he groaned childishly, causing her to giggle as they walked out of the training ground. Naruto followed, giving one last look at his clones still playing rock-paper-scissors, and none of them had lost yet, and he dispelled them.

He caught up to Ami, "Hey, Ami, Ichiraku's only sells ramen. If we can't have ramen, then what?" he inquired, causing her to look over to him, "Remember? I can't go to any other places."

"It's fine, my family runs a restaurant, "Akashi's", they'll let you in. I already talked to them about it."

Naruto got really nervous, looking around for an imaginary threat hiding somewhere nearby, completely missing the fact Ami just let slip, that she had planned for this in advance.

It wasn't slipped on accident, however, and Ami watched Naruto for his reaction. He appeared to not have paid any attention to what she said, and she sighed.

She asked him about his recent mission, and he explained it as they walked. After about a minute, she wrapped his right arm up with her left arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

Naruto flinched, tensing his whole body temporarily, as he wasn't looking at Ami when she had grabbed him. "W-wh-what? What're you doing?" he asked nervously, as he had only seen people do stuff like that when this were on dates.

"Don't ya know? People do this when they go to eat together."

"Really? Oh… well that makes sense…" Naruto said, knowing damned well that it made absolutely no sense.

He didn't know much about social interactions, as he was only ever able to observe them from afar, so he didn't understand why people did many of the things they did, but he went along with it. It seemed like the easier thing to do.

As he started to calm down, rationalizing to himself that many of those people he saw holding arms like this went to eat, he noticed her heartbeat reverberating though his arm.

He smiled cautiously, as it felt very soothing to him but he was still on guard. They walked in silence; it wasn't an uncomfortable silence whatsoever, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either.

After a minute or two, they arrived at the restaurant. Ami half led, half dragged Naruto into the restaurant.

Naruto looked around nervously, noting all escape routes, obstacles, and possible enemies. Ami led him to an empty table, and they sat down, Naruto looking ready to bolt at the drop of a hat.

"Hello Ami, Naruto," the voice of an older man called, and Naruto turned to face the voice, "What can I get for you today?"

The man looked familiar, but Naruto couldn't place it. "I remember you…" was all Naruto said.

The man chuckled and nodded, "Yes. I'm Ami's father, and I was one of the council members at your trial."

Naruto nodded, remembering how this man was one of the ones who voted against his execution.

"Well, what would you like to order? The first dish is on the house."

Naruto smiled a fake smile, wanting to fool the man into thinking he fell for it if he was trying to trick him into relaxing, then placed his order.

Ami made an order too, and then looked to Naruto.

He was looking around nervously, watching the few other patrons eating their meals, when he felt something latch onto his hand. He whipped his head around to face whatever was binding him, and he saw Ami looking softly into his eyes. She was holding onto his hand as well, rubbing her thumb across the back of it.

"Its okay, Naruto. You can relax here, no one's going to hurt you." Naruto looked at her, then sighed, relaxing a little. She pulled her hand back, but he was still tense, "Hey, Naruto, I heard you died." she started, trying to draw his attention away from being nervous.

Naruto explained how he died, and how his 'Kekki Genkai' brought him back. Towards the end of his recap of the events, Ami's father came out with the plates of food.

Naruto accepted his plate, and Ami hers.

Ami begun eating, then noticed Naruto was just staring at his food. "What's wrong?" she asked, resting her fork down on her plate.

He said nothing, and she sighed. "You still worried about what they do at other places?"

She reached over with her fork, stealing a piece of chicken from his plate and popping it into her mouth. She chewed, then swallowed it, smiling at him after she was done. "See? It's fine, they didn't do anything to it."

Naruto sighed a breath of relief, then picked up his fork and begun eating. After they finished eating, Naruto first and Ami a minute later, Ami had begun talking again, telling him about the various things that had happened in her life. None of it was extraordinary, but Naruto enjoyed it because it made him feel like the spotlight wasn't entirely on him.

After a while of talking, Naruto started to relax, so Ami figured she would try to ask him something a little more personal.

"Can I ask you something Naruto?" she asked; he nodded, so she continued, "Do you remember when we were with Ino at that ramen shop? The waitress, Ayame I think, she got really mad at what you had Ino do. It seemed like something bad happened before, would you mind telling me what it was? I've been really curious about it ever since."

Naruto nodded grimly. "Well… it was about 2 years ago, when we learned the Henge no Jutsu in class. It was the only jutsu I was able to learn, so I practiced it whenever I could. I also figured out that I could henge other things, not just myself. Then, I figured if other kids knew what it was like to be me, then they might be my friend, or at the least leave me alone, so I practiced henging other things into me."

Ami nodded at his logic, and he continued. "Well, there was one kid who was really mean to me, meaner than any other kids, almost as mean as the adults. He was a few years older than me, almost ready to graduate from the academy, too. I followed him one day, and waited until he entered a store, then I henged him into me… "

"He was attacked?" Ami asked from the edge of her seat, and Naruto chuckled.

"Yeah. They beat him to death," Naruto laughed out his sentence, looking up to her as she covered her mouth with her hands and going wide eyed. He continued, "6 cracked ribs, fractured skull, severe internal bleeding, a fractured arm, a broken leg, and a kunai sticking out of his side. He was left like that in the middle of the street as he died, not one person attempting to help him. All because he looked like me."

Ami looked down, tears forming a little in her eyes as her brain tried to supply images of the injuries to the face her mind already supplied.

"I hadn't meant for that to happen, though. I would've helped him after they were done, but I still assumed everyone could heal like me back then. I left him there, in the dirt, still looking like me until I couldn't hold the jutsu anymore."

Ami looked up to him, tears lightly filling her eyes. "The ironic part is, I wasn't punished at all for what I did. Everyone, including me, knew that what I did was wrong, but the reason he died was because they beat a 12 year old child that severely, then left him in the streets. It was kind of like I turned their own hate back on them, so no one really talked about it; they wanted to ignore the severity of their actions, I guess."

"Do you remember his name?" Ami asked, rubbing the tears from her eyes.

"Yeah. His name was something Uryuu. Why?" he asked her, looking curiously into her moist eyes.

"Akashi Uryuu?" she asked, and he nodded, "That was my cousin."

"…Oh… um, I…" Naruto tried, but failed to properly convey anything.

"No, it's fine," she said, wiping her eyes a little more, "I wasn't really close to him at all, just a little closer than an academy acquaintance. I always thought he was mean and a jerk. The only reason I was crying was because I was imagining it happen." she explained while smiling at him. "They told me he died in an accident, but never told me what happened."

After Ami said that, Naruto hung his head a little. "And before you even start thinking it, no I don't blame you."

Naruto nodded slowly, so she continued. "Now why are you attacked? You don't have to tell me why you think you are, because I already know why you, and Uryuu, were attacked. Not because you and him looked like you, not because of anything you did, Naruto. You get attacked by stupid people. When I saw Ino, after she got hit in the head that day she henged into you, she did absolutely nothing but walk into that store."

"But…" Naruto started, but trailed off as Ami shook her head.

"You think it's your fault still? Think about it. Your crime, what was it? You had someone else walk in your shoes for 2 minutes, and they get beaten to death. Every time someone attacks you, or anyone who looks like you, they are at fault. Not you."

Naruto looked down at his plate, bits of chicken still left on it, and she sighed. "You still don't believe me? Let me ask you this: if you walk into a store, and you get beaten like that, to death, is it your fault you got beaten?"

Naruto's face shifted into a thoughtful expression, then he shook his head.

Ami nodded and gestured at him with her hands. "There you go! Your answers right there. Not your fault."

Naruto looked thoughtful for a second more, than smiled. "Yeah…"

"Well, since we're both done eating, you wanna leave?" Ami asked, and Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, lets go," he said, looking at the table one more time before getting up.

"Thanks, dad!" Ami called, then saw her father poke his head out from the kitchen and wave.

Ami latched onto Naruto's arm again, but it felt a little more comfortable and natural than it did the first time she did it. Naruto looked up, it was getting orangish in the sky, Naruto couldn't tell exactly what time it was, but it was probably after 5.

"Could you walk me home?" Ami asked.

Naruto nodded. "Sure, why not."

As they walked, Naruto seemed to relax a lot more, talking energetically about all the things he went through since he became a ninja, excluding all of the too embarrassing to talk about things of course.

As they got to the house, Ami turned to Naruto. "Naruto… are there any girls you like right now? From what you told me, it looks like there are quiet a few around you right now."

Naruto blushed slightly, "W-well… it's not really like that, but I guess Sakura-chan. Why do you ask, Ami?" he asked, and she kissed him on the cheek. He stumbled backwards slightly, but she leaned into him so the kiss wasn't broken.

After a moment, she pulled back, "No reason…" She stared into his eyes for a moment, then chuckled to herself. 'God, he's dense,' Ami thought to herself, and let go of him. "I had a great time, Naruto. See you later."

She turned around and walked up to her door, but stayed there, not going in. She didn't know why, but she felt like she couldn't move for a moment.

"Hey, can ah talk with ya for a minnit?" she heard a girl from behind her call, so she turned around.

"Huh?" Ami asked, "What is it?"

Rogue looked her dead in the eye. "It's about the date ya was just on with Na'to."

Ami chuckled after a moment, as she wasn't used to the word 'Na'to'. "No, it wasn't a date."

Rogue got a little angrier than she wanted, and snapped at the girl. "Yes it WAS a date! Ah saw ya!"

Ami chuckled again, which pissed Rogue off some more. "No, it wasn't. I don't know how well you know him, but he's pretty dense."

Rogue was about to snap at this girl, but she continued. "It wasn't a real date because Naruto won't understand a girl's feelings unless she outright tells him."

Ami chuckled again, then turned around and went into her house. Rogue was left looking confused at the door, Luffy sucking on his bottom lip, and Ichigo cocking his head to the side.

"Huh… she kinda sounded like she was talking about herself," Ichigo noted, scratching the side of his jaw.

"Yeah, maybe. It's hard to tell with girls," Luffy commented, looking over to Ichigo.

"I know," Ichigo added, "and we don't really hang out with any girls, so it's harder to know when they're doing that 'saying things without saying them' thing."

Rogue spun around to them, completely offended that she wasn't considered a girl. "HEY! I'm a girl; you guys are with me all the time!" she stated in an elevated tone of voice.

"Yeah, I guess, but Rogue, you can only be considered a girl because you don't have boy parts," Ichigo explained very simply, pushing Rogue with his words so that she was on the verge of going into a blind rage.

Of course, there is always one member of the group that doesn't know when enough is enough.

"Yeah! She barely has any girl parts too!" Luffy laughed merrily, "She doesn't even have boobs! Her chest is like a book!"

Luffy's head went flying back 15 ft. into a building, as Rogue had punched him square in the face. She turned to Ichigo, but only his after-image was left. She heard rapid taps, almost like someone running behind her. She turned to see Ichigo, carrying Luffy, running like his life depended on it. Which it did, and Rogue gave chase.

* * *

The next morning, the Hokage is going through various documents, approving this, disapproving that, that type of thing. That's when he came upon a particular document. It was a missing person's report. He read over the name three times, sighed, then read it a 4th time out loud. "…Haruno Sakura…"

Author's box

* * *

W-W-W-W-WTF! DID I JUST DO THAT! Yes. Yes I did. Oh my goodness, such an important chapter update. Oh, and if you haven't noticed already, the chapter title's I pick, I try to tie them in in at least two different ways. Like this one, "Unexpected Event" is referring to Kurenai switching to Team 11 instead of Anko, Naruto's date along with Ami's affection, and Sakura's apparent abduction. The previous chapter, "Not Over", was referring to Sakura's trauma, Anko's role as sensei of Team 8 (It wasn't over yet), and at least three other points I cannot reveal as of yet. "Riot", I couldn't really make a connection on multiple points, so I named it something hectic, which is also what was going on in the village. "Gained ally? Lost ally?" was referring to Haku and Sakura. Like, "did we just get Haku on our team?", and then, "Did we just lose Sakura?" And "Wake Up" referred to Anko waking up from her lust addled mind, Naruto realizing his friends didn't abandon him, and the more obvious Hinata and Sakura waking up scene. "One More Step" was referring to Hinata's advance in her relationship with Naruto, her advance in learning the Kage Bunshin, and Rogue's progress through the chapter, making it bit by bit closer to Naruto. "Here Comes A New Challenger" should be obvious, and "Gained Ground" wasn't long enough for me to make too many connections. Everything before that is pretty self-explanatory as well… Huh… I just wanted to explain this chapter title and the last one, but I over talked… oh well! I appreciate every review I get, but it would be nice if more than 1% of you reviewed! Go Team Naruto!


	17. 15 Thrown Away

Damn those bastards are crafty! I haven't been able to track them down yet, but I will! I was able to finish this chapter and another one while hunting them down though… maybe that's slowing me down? Maybe I should stop these updates until I find them.

Now, I will be adding 4 oc's this chapter, and another one already introduced. What? I can't hear you, speak up. "Don't do it?" "Don't ruin the story anymore than you already have? "Can I have a dollar?" are these really what you're feeling? Are those really the requests you make of ore-sama? Well, heres for you… SSIIIILLEEEENCEEEEE! Zidiane-sama DEMANDS IT! Hah, no, I'm kidding. Theses oc's aren't bad, and most of them won't really be mentioned ever again. Maybe. At least not next chapter. Maybe. Well, at least not often… grr! Must. Not. Type. MAYBE! … oh, well… CHAPTER TIME! (blame the nice lady on the bus, she gave me sugar)

Update: this story has been beta'd by both "InsanityIsTheNewBlack" and "Emotionally Unstable Fangirl"

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 22" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

Naruto was on his way to his temporary home after his free lunch with Ami. Naruto was not taught many things, so near everything he knows he learned on his own: one of those things was how breakfast, lunch and dinner were considered.

Breakfast was whatever he ate first, lunch was his second meal, and if he hadn't been robbed or his house raided that day, his third meal was dinner. If he went without food for whatever reason through the day, and then ate at 6 p.m., that was his breakfast. He hadn't eaten at Ichiraku's that day, as they were sick, so that meal was his lunch.

'Hmm… Ami was acting really strange today,' Naruto thought to himself as he rubbed his cheek where she kissed him. He thought he heard a chuckle somewhere in the back of his mind, but dismissed it, as he wasn't even sure that's what it was.

He continued to walk, thinking about everything that happened that day, when suddenly his stomach clenched and his hairs stood on end. He looked around, then saw three figures jump down from the rooftops, surrounding him, two at his back, and one at his front.

Two of them wore Chunin vests, and the third wore a Jounin vest. "Your time has come, demon," one of the Chunin behind him sneered, and Naruto turned sideways so he could see all three of them.

The two Chunin were grinning maliciously, drawing their katana, while the Jounin just stared at him with hatred clear in his eyes. Just then, a cold wind swept across the street, colder than Naruto thought possible unless it was winter and he had no clothes on. Then, he felt another presence somewhere nearby.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something glowing light blue. He turned his head in it's direction just in time to see it collide with one of the Chunin.

When it connected, what Naruto could tell at the last moment was a swirling blue ball of some sort, it expanded around both of them, then solidified, spiking outwards as it did. It looked a lot like a small iceberg with spikes randomly protruding from the sides.

He heard a soft tap in the direction of the Jounin, and saw someone else there, fighting with him, ice-blue hair flowing behind them like a sail in the wind. The person was fighting hand-to-hand with the Jounin, connecting many times and leaving frosty looking blue spots on their body.

The Jounin caught the person with a punch to the gut, which caused the person to hunch over and take a step back. The man raised his hands for a double-handed smash over the back of the head, but he was suddenly blasted up into the air by what looked like a strong burst of wind. The man was still being carried by the wind when a blast of water seemed to appear out of nowhere behind him, hitting him in the back and carrying him higher into the air.

While the Jounin was high in the air, a good thirty feet or so, the person turned to Naruto. The person had their arms outstretched and lowered at an angle away from their body, about halfway between horizontal and straight down (It's a little difficult to explain, but raise your arms to a horizontal position like you are pretending you're an airplane. Okay, now lower them to the halfway point between there, and their normal positions slack at your sides. There, that's where this person's arms are.) with their palms facing up, then snapped the fingers on both hands simultaneously.

A shrill scream echoed through the night abruptly, but ended just as quickly. The man in the air was now trapped in a giant ice star, which fell to the ground with a loud shatter.

From what Naruto could see, from the broken frozen pieces of the Jounin, he had been frozen completely through to his center. He looked up to the person with the ice-blue hair, and could now tell that it was a girl probably in her mid 20's, now that she wasn't just a flurry of death.

The woman started towards him, and he recognized her smell. It made him feel calm, gaving him a sense of security; suddenly he had no intention of running. "Hello, Naruto," she said, and he just blinked at her for moment, before replying.

"…You're that person with the mask; the one who helped me out of my grave."

She nodded, "Yes, I am…" she started, but trailed off.

"Well, thank you for helping me. I'm not sure if I could've got away from them."

She shook her head, "No, you don't have to thank me. My name is Fuyuki, Naruto, it's nice to finally meet you," she greeted, bowing slightly as she did.

Naruto returned the bow, as he remembered from Ayame's class of 'learn etiquette or Ayame-nee-chan will be mad' that it is polite to bow to someone when they do so first.

Naruto rose from his bow to see the woman looking at him strangely. "Huh?" he asked suddenly, "Is something wrong with my face?"

A small blush made itself known on Fuyuki's face, and she averted his eyes.

"No…I…" she tried to speak, but found herself unable.

Naruto was about to ask her what was wrong, but she shunshined away, leaving a cold wind to send a shiver up Naruto's spine and a patch of frost on the ground.

Naruto looked around for her, but the mysterious girl was nowhere to be found. He couldn't smell her anymore, either. He looked back to the frozen Chunin, then decided it was better to head back to Kurenai-sensei's than be attacked again.

* * *

Fuyuki was sitting on a roof several blocks away from where she encountered Naruto, the blush still on her face, "God… he's just like Minato-sama… I need my mask."

* * *

Naruto arrived at the Yuuhi/Mitarashi house, and saw Kurenai sitting at the table. "Hi Kurenai-sensei."

"Naruto, you're here. I need to talk with you; come sit down," Kurenai said, motioning to the chair at the other side of the table.

Naruto looked at her strangely for a moment before taking a seat. '…Something's wrong. What's happening?' he thought to himself as he adjusted himself in the chair.

"Nothing's wrong, Naruto, just a little change with your senseis." Kurenai spoke as if she had read Naruto's mind. Well, that's what he thought, but his face would have given away what he was thinking to a civilian.

Naruto nodded, so she continued. "I won't be one of your senseis anymore. I have been transferred to Rogue's new team."

Naruto dropped his head in utter defeat, and Kurenai sighed. "Come on, it's not that bad. Me and Anko are sisters, and Team 8 and 11 will be close, so you'll still see me a lot."

Naruto nodded his head, and straightened up a little bit. "… Can I… still call you sensei?" he asked, looking up at her through the hair hanging over his eyes.

Kurenai smiled and got out of her chair, walking over to Naruto and hugging him. "Of course, Naruto; you can always call me sensei."

Naruto attempted to return the hug, but his arms seemed indecisive, constantly moving between his sides and almost hugging her back, so they ended up just resting by his side.

She let go, then looked down to him sweetly before scratching his cheek. He begun purring, but after a few seconds she stopped.

"H-huh?" Naruto started with his eyes slightly glazed over, then he looked to her as she sat back down, "Oh, what about Anko-sensei? She isn't going anywhere, right?"

Kurenai smiled as she shook her head. "No, she won't leave. Oh, but you might want to know, she might act a little different than normal."

Kurenai decided to elaborate after noticing the Genine's puzzled expression. "Anko acts a little different when I'm not around. She might act a little more weary or cautious, maybe a little overprotective; because I'm not there to make sure everything's fine, she'll be a little more serious. So, when you notice her acting a little different, that's all it is."

Naruto nodded his understanding, then tilted his head slightly. "Kurenai-sensei, did you have a sensei too?" he asked, causing her to chuckle slightly.

"Yes, almost every ninja anywhere has had a sensei of some sort."

"Can I meet your sensei? I want to see what she's like (Naruto assumes all senseis are girls, as he had two female sensei's and hadn't really seen anyone else's senseis)."

Kurenai shook her head, then sighed. "No, Fukuda-sensei is in the graveyard right now…"

"Huh? What's she doing at the graveyard?" Naruto asked cluelessly.

She chuckled again. "He's sleeping, Naruto."

He cocked his head to the side. "Why's he sleeping at the—" Naruto started, but stopped abruptly as he took a sharp inhale, realization dawning on him, "Oooh! He's dead… sorry Kurenai-sensei…" Naruto apologized, hoping he didn't just upset her.

"No, it's fine," she dismissed, lightheartedly waving him off, and looking up to a picture on the wall.

Naruto's eyes followed Kurenai's and he saw three picture frames. One was a picture of someone who looked like a younger Anko with a large grin plastered on her face, a shorter child with gray hair and glasses who was looking aggravated, and a third child, with straight raven-black hair hanging down to partly cover his red eyes, who wore a cocky smirk. There was also the assumed sensei who was standing behind them with a satisfied half smile. He had pale skin with purple markings coming off the side of his creepy yellow eyes, and Naruto couldn't tell from this distance, but they looked like they had slitted pupils.

Naruto moved on to the second picture. There was an assumed younger Kurenai, one with barely shoulder-length hair, standing in between her teammates with a bright smile. To her left was a boy with navy blue hair, who had a rather stoic expression and light blue eyes, and the boy to her right had dark red hair that came down over his face down to his neck, covering everything on his face save for his gray left eye and half of his nose and lips. Their sensei had his left arm around the blue haired child, his right around the red haired child, and his chin was resting on Kurenai's head. He had a wide grin, and his eyes were closed to give the grin a bit more room on his face. He also had blonde hair in a ponytail hanging down his shoulders, in between Kurenai and the kid with blue hair.

The third picture was of his team, Naruto in the center, a huge blush on his face as Anko nibbled on his ear while snaking her hands into his jacket. Sakura was to Naruto's right, a blush on her face as well, with her fist raised towards the snake mistress. Hinata was blushing as well, and in the middle of activating her byakugan, staring fiercely at Anko. Anko, Kurenai mentally noted as she looked at the picture with Naruto, looked the happiest she had ever been. She was grinning widely, and her eyes shinned with joy as she looked into the camera as if nothing abnormal was happening. Kurenai was standing behind Hinata, covering her face with her left hand in embarrassment. 'Why can't she act normal for two seconds?' was the thought Kurenai remembered going through her head at that very moment.

"So that's yours and Anko's team?" Naruto asked after he finished his inspection of the pictures.

"Yeah… but they're all gone now. Two of them defected from the village, and everyone else is dead."

"Defected?" Naruto asked curiously, as that was a word he never heard before. Kurenai occasionally used words he didn't know, but he usually understood basically what it meant by how she used it, or wasn't overly interested in what it meant. He was, however, interested in everything about her and Anko's teammates.

"Oh, it means they betrayed the village. They became missing nin, and are now enemies of Konoha," she explained.

he gave her a serious nod before he spoke. "How did everyone else die?" he asked bluntly, and Kurenai frowned, "Can you tell me all about yours and Anko's teams?"

"Well, I don't know much about the people from Anko's team, or how they died, but with my team…"

* * *

Flash back: 17 years ago

* * *

Kurenai opened her eyes, staring at her ceiling for a moment before grinning.

"YES! It's tomorrow! I'm so lucky!" she shouted aloud, and hopped out of her bed. She looked down to her pajama's, black with white stripes. Red circles were scattered randomly across the pattern.

She smiled and opened the curtain covering the window across the room. She saw the sun coming up behind the Hokage monument, and she grinned a little wider.

She undressed and took a quick shower, wanting to get to training ground 12 as soon as possible, and changed into her new outfit she bought for her first days as a ninja.

("i143 . photobucket . com/albums/r132/zidiane7/kurenaisGeninoutfit .jpg", (just remove the spaces) that is basically what her outfit looks like, with the circles being flowers. Flowers like in this next picture "bleach .neoseeker .com/w/i/bleach/thumb/1/16/3rd_Division _Symbol .jpg /150px-3rd_Division _Symbol . jpg", (just remove the spaces) this is what you should replace the circles with in your mind. Black flowers on the white of the dress, and white flowers on the black of the dress.)

She checked herself in the mirror, but found nothing amiss, "I hope Riku-kun likes this." After the words left her lips, she grabbed her newly acquired hitai-ate and tied it around her head, then headed out of her room. She made her wy down the stairs and into the kitchen, making herself scrambled eggs and butter toast with a glass of orange juice.

She finished relatively quickly, checking the time, checking herself one more time to be sure nothing got on her new outfit, then headed out.

* * *

On her way to her team training area, she accidentally knocked into a small girl. Kurenai fell backwards, and so did the girl.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!" the young girl yelled as she picked herself up.

"Are you okay?" the man with the girl asked.

Kurenai had felt a chill run down her spine when he had spoken. "Y-y-yeah, I'm fine." Kurenai stuttered out as she got up and hurried away.

"…come Anko, we have things to do," the man said, and continued in the direction they were going.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama."

* * *

Kurenai arrived at training ground 12 shortly after her run-in with the Sannin, but with her early start she was still a few minutes early. As she looked around saw one of her teammates of to the side, sitting quietly in a patch of grass with his head down.

He just had a dark red standard ninja suit. His clothing had no character or personalization or unique markings of any kind, and excluding the unique red hair, neither did the boy.

"Hey Gouzen!" Kurenai called out, causing the boy sitting in the grass looked up at her through the separation in his dark red hair.

He nodded to her, then looked back down to the grass he was watching.

Kurenai sweat-dropped, then she looked around. "Gouzen, have you seen Riku-kun? Or Fukuda-sensei?" she asked, walking a few steps closer to him. He glared at her through his hair, and she backed up holding her hands up apologetically, "Sorry, sorry."

His glare softened as she backed up, and then he shook his head. "You haven't seen them?" she asked, and he shook his head again.

Kurenai sighed, then perched herself on a tree branch while she waited.

Fukuda arrived a half-hour later with Riku, and Kurenai hopped down to greet them. "Riku-kun!" she called as she approached him with a bright smile.

Riku looked to her with an indifferent expression. The boy had a loose sleeveless dark blue shirt with a white 'X' stretching from the top to the bottom of the shirt on both sides. He also wore baggy shorts that were a slightly darker shade of blue than his shirt. His hair was a navy blue, and straight, coming down to his neck; it was arranged in such a way that it didn't cover his face, however.

Fukuda, who was standing beside Riku, had blonde hair in a ponytail that reached down to the middle of his back. He wore a trench coat that was gray on the outside and tan on the inside, reaching down to the back of his knees, and a grayish shirt beneath it. He had black pants that reached the top of his feet, with gray shin guards strapping his pants to his legs, and grey sandals.

"Hello," Riku greeted calmly as Kurenai approached.

"There were some tests Riku had to take, and they took a little longer than expected. Sorry for being late," Fukuda apologized, grinning and bowing apologetically to Kurenai, and then again slightly to her left. Kurenai looked to where he was bowing, and saw that Gouzen was standing beside her. She jumped a little in surprise, as she hadn't heard or felt him move from the grass.

"Geeze Gouzen, you startled me!" Kurenai exclaimed, holding her chest, and Gouzen shrunk away.

"…sorry…" he whispered, and Kurenai waved him off.

"It's fine, no worries."

"It'll be bad if you are that easily startled and snuck up on in the field," Riku stated in a detached manner, then looked to Fukuda, "Are you sure she'll be fine Fukuda-sensei?"

Kurenai seemed to radiate a depressed aura after Riku's words, but Fukuda spoke up in her defence. "Of course she will, Riku," the blonde-haired man said, placing a hand on Kurenai's shoulder, "She's a Yuuhi, and she passed near the top of her class. She's still a little young, so it's to be expected she isn't constantly as sharp as those a few years older."

"Y-yeah, Riku-kun, I just wasn't paying attention!" Kurenai added, and Riku looked back to her.

His face stayed perfectly still as his eyes locked onto hers. She blushed slightly, and he nodded. "Please try and stay focused when we are on missions; your death would be a waste, and could potentially jeopardize your team and mission."

She nodded, blushing a little more, this time out of embarrassment, and Fukuda spoke up again. "Well said, Riku, but that's what I'm here for. I will make sure you three are ready for dangerous missions when the time comes, but it's still a little early for those types of assignments."

Riku nodded curtly, then turned to Gouzen. They said nothing, just staring at each other calmly without moving. Kurenai glanced to Fukuda, who was looking at them just as curiously as her, then she looked back. After another couple seconds, Riku and Gouzen nodded to each other simultaneously, then looked back to Fukuda and Kurenai.

They said nothing, and Fukuda and Kurenai sweat-dropped. "W-well, now that that's out of the way, it's time to take your survival test."

Kurenai turned to look at him as well, nodding her readiness. "You have one hour. If your team can get this," he said, pointing to a blue ribbon he held up, then tied around his arm, "off of me, then you pass."

He walked over to a tree stump (over where Kurenai usually sits, in the present, to read), then put a little clock down and set it, "One hour starting now. Come at me to kill, otherwise you wont even get close."

Riku and Kurenai took up fighting stances, Kurenai with a kunai, Riku just raised his hands, and Gouzen just took a hesitant step forward. "Kurenai, Gouzen, I'm the strongest one here, so you two be my support."

Gouzen said nothing, and Kurenai nodded through her slight blush, 'Riku's so cool!' she thought, then they attacked.

Riku lunged at Fukuda, but he was tossed aside with ease. Gouzen and Kurenai attacked at that time too, Kurenai slicing at him with her kunai and occasionally throwing a shuriken, while Gouzen kept attempting to grab Fukuda in between punches.

Just before Fukuda knocked them both back, he felt a chakra surge behind him. Fukuda quickly moved behind Kurenai and Gouzen so he could see what it was and still fight.

It was Riku, his body was radiating some kind of black aura that appeared to be chakra, and his eyes had gone negative; the white of his eyes were now black and his normally blue eyes now red. He charged towards Fukuda; the Jounin sensei knocked his two closer students out of the way.

Riku kept low to the ground this time, and punched at his sensei. The long-haired blonde dodged his punches with ease, but when one of the punches connected with the ground, a small explosion was created that knocked Fukuda and Riku away from each other.

When Fukuda looked up, he saw Kurenai helping the now normal Riku up, and Gouzen quietly standing next to them with the ribbon hanging loosely from his hand.

Fukuda smiled, and looked to the timer. "I should've only given you 5 minutes; that was too easy!"

Fukuda dusted himself off after he got up. "I should do better next time, shouldn't I? or else I might start being the student!" he said, laughing out the last part, then looked to the newly formed Team 8, "Well, since that wasn't much of a challenge, I think you should be up for some training, right?"

They were quiet for a moment, then Riku spoke up. "We defeated you almost effortlessly. I think we need someone stronger."

Fukuda thought for a second, then nodded, "Yeah, I was pretty uncool back there, huh? Well, I won't make excuses, so I'll give you a challenge: if you can inflict any damage on me in the next 58 minutes, until the timer rings, then you can trade me for someone better. That's fair, right?"

Riku nodded, "Those terms are acceptable." He then charged forward, staring the Jounin dead in the eyes. Suddenly, however, Riku was staring into the eyes of his teammates as he rocketed towards them.

As he passed by, Kurenai jumped out of the way and Gouzen sidestepped, touching the blue-headed missile with the palms of his hands as he shot passed. Suddenly, Gouzen seemed to be exerting a large amount of effort as he appeared to be pulling back on an invisible rope (like mimes do), a "rope" that if you followed with your eyes, you'd see it was attached to Riku.

Before Riku could crash into the ground, he stopped in mid-air, shifted to a vertical position, and hung by his joints like a puppet. Gouzen let go of his "rope", and Riku fell to his feet.

"Group attacks tend to be the most effective way to take down stronger opponents, Riku. Even if you were gifted with "Negative chakra," you should never underestimate the value of teamwork." Fukuda said in a mock scolding manner.

"Okay, you two. We will coordinate our efforts from now on," Riku said in a aggravated tone… well, aggravated compared to the emotionless tone he normally used. Kurenai and Gouzen nodded, then they attacked together.

* * *

Flash Forward: The present

* * *

"Kurenai-sensei! What's "Negative chakra"? It sounds cool, can I do it?" Naruto exploded from excitement, loudly interrupting Kurenai's recollection of her team's early days.

"Calm down, calm down," she said with a smile, backing up a little in her chair from the loud blonde, "I'll tell you, just relax."

Naruto, with visible effort and strain on his body, sat still. "Okay; first off, No, you can't use it. It's a special type of chakra that shows up in only one or two people every hundred years or so. As to what it is exactly, it's when a person is born with special condensed chakra."

Naruto's eyes begun sparkling when she said "special", and she chuckled. "Yeah, chakra is normally a light blue, right? Well, the darker your chakra is, the more condensed it is. We haven't been able to figure out how it happens because it happens so rarely."

Naruto kind of looked like he wasn't getting it, so she decided to explain it simply, "The "Negative" chakra will basically squish together to make stronger chakra, then keep squishing together as your body makes more to fill the empty space."

Naruto nodded, and she continued, "And because the chakra is so packed in, it's really easy for the user to use chakra, even accidentally if they aren't extremely well trained. Like when you squish a sponge; the water is chakra, and the sponge is the ninja." Naruto nodded, the confirmation she wanted before she said too much at once and lost him completely, so she continued.

"And when the person uses the chakra, it seeps out of their body so they look almost like their smoking, and their eye colors invert."

Naruto blinked a few times. "Invert?"

"Yeah, like, see mine?" she said, leaning towards him and opening her eye all the way, "My eye would have black instead of all the white, light blue instead of the red, and the black rings would be white."

Naruto's eyes sparkled again, "Oooooohhhhh! Can I do that without that chakra?" and Kurenai tilted her head to the side slightly.

"Not really, but you might be able to make your eyes look that way with genjutsu." Kurenai suddenly did a few simple seals and her eyes inverted to the aforementioned colors.

Kurenai was starting to worry if his sparkling eyes would become permanent, like Gai's teeth had after that one time. But that, folks, is a story for another time (like, in one of the omake I'm putting at the end of the chapter. Don't skip to it cause you want to read it now, you might ("Might," as in, "Definitely/Probably") accidentally spoil something).

"Naruto? Does he still want to hear about my team, I wonder?" she wondered aloud, and Naruto snapped out of it.

"Ohh! Yeah, keep going!"

"Alright. Well, we never did land a hit in Fukuda-sensei. The days passed, and we got many missions. Me and Gouzen earned Chunin rank two years later, with Riku earning Jounin. But, that's the same year that…"

* * *

Flash back: 15 years ago

* * *

Team Fukuda, previously known as Team 8, was standing in the Hokage office, awaiting their mission. Kurenai, Gouzen, and Riku wore slightly different clothes this time around, however.

Kurenai was wearing pretty much the same thing, but she had removed the left sleeve, leaving her with only one red sleeve. She had also removed the white undershirt and the black shorts in exchange for a mesh suit that stopped mid thigh, about the same place her shorts previously reached. She also had let her hair grow a little longer: not too much longer, but a few noticeable inches longer.

Gouzen, after some pestering from Kurenai to "liven" up his outfit, was wearing loose shorts and a loose shirt over his dark red ninja suit. The shorts and shirt were black, and it left his forearm and below his knee (Don't know what that part of the body is called; the front is the shin, and the back is the calf, but I mean the whole thing.) dark red.

Riku didn't really care what he was wearing, but as he grew a little, he had to get new clothes. He would have just gotten the same thing in a bigger size, but Kurenai had made him get at least a different color. It had the same design as his previous outfit, but now it was black with a purple 'X' going through the front and back, and his pants were the same shade of black, but they had a purple stripe going down the side.

"Team Fukuda," the Fourth Hokage started after opening a scroll from off the desk, "the newly formed Team 6 has gone missing. We need you to go search their last known whereabouts."

A young girl with long light blue hair, who was dressed in ANBU attire with a cat mask, was standing beside Minato. She took the scroll and handed it to Fukuda.

"The land of sea?" Fukuda asked as he read over the document.

"Yes. We normally would of sent a normal Genin team, but two Jounin and two Chunin will be necessary. If you didn't know, the sensei of that team is Orochimaru, one of the Sannin. If he has disappeared, then something serious has happened. I will also be sending Cat here to go with you as back up," The Hokage replied, acknowledging the ANBU next to him with the tilt of his head.

"She's so young!" Kurenai said a little louder than she intended.

Minato chuckled, and nodded, "Yes, she is, but she is highly skilled. I hope nothing bad happens while you investigate, but Cat will be your back up for this mission, just in case."

"Oh, no, I didn't- I was just surprised that one so young could become an ANBU!" Kurenai fumbled out.

"It's fine, Cat is used to it; being that young, people tend to do things like that a lot. As long as you don't treat her like a kid, she won't mind what you do." The ANBU at his side nodded.

Fuyuki nodded towards the ANBU, then spoke up. "Alright, mission received. Lets proceed; something might happen if we are unable to make it there quickly."

Kurenai smiled, and everyone left the Hokage office.

Kurenai noticed Gouzen slowly inching his way away from Cat, who had decided to walk next to him. "Um, Cat-chan, Gouzen is really nervous when people are too close to him; could you back up a little?"

Cat looked back to Kurenai, then to Gouzen. He looked nervous, glancing towards her repeatedly, and she noticed he was standing three inches further from her than when they started walking.

"Understood," she said, and appeared beside Kurenai.

Kurenai was resisting the strong urge to pet the travel-sized ANBU, being as she was so cute and her name fit perfectly with petting. Fukuda chuckled as he noticed her restraint.

* * *

After reaching the land of sea, they searched the village for anyone who had seen the missing team. Only one had seen them, he told them he saw them off on the outskirts of town.

They went to where the man had directed, and found a secret entrance in the mountain when Gouzen noticed the moss on parts of the wall which seemed to have either been tampered with or was broken slightly. They found a spot on the wall that when they pushed, the section of the wall pulled down into the ground.

The place was eerily empty, and had what seemed like genetic experiments all over the first room in large green tinted tanks.

They continued through the seemingly abandoned base until they found a room with a naked child sitting with her legs stretched out in front of her. She was covered in wounds and blood, though some of the blood probably belonged to the two men lying dead beside her.

She looked up to them, her purple hair sticking in clumps in front of her face, and her eyes peeked out at them. Her eyes were half closed, and she stared at them lifelessly. She slowly drug her gaze across each person's face; Riku first, then Gouzen, then Fukuda, then Cat, and finally Kurenai.

Fukuda took off his trench coat, and the girl looked back down to her toes. He walked towards her, but she made no reaction, and he put the trench coat on her back. She looked up at him, then stood up. Fukuda grabbed her arms and helped them through the trench coat sleeves one at a time.

He sighed. "Cat, go with Kurenai to check this place out, grab any evidence of anything you can find. Riku, you and Gouzen do the same. I'll be here with the girl, if anything happens, I will make it to you as fast as possible. Just keep your radios on channel 3."

Everyone gave him a nod, then headed off. He sighed again, and turned to the girl. She was just staring at him. He picked her up, brought her out of the room, and sat her down against the wall, and with her seated, he tied the trench coat closed tightly around her bloodstained and battered little body. She just stared up at him, so he knelt down. "Can you tell me anything? What's your name?"

Fukuda knew her name, but he was trying to see if she could recall her own name. She couldn't. She didn't say anything, and he tried again. "Your name? Or what happened to you?" she flinched at his second question, and brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them.

'…Well, at least she can understand me… that's enough for now…' Fukuda thought, then sat next to her.

* * *

Cat was walking down the hall with Kurenai following behind her. "Hey, Cat…" Kurenai started, and she saw a cat mask glance back at her, "What do you think… do you… do you know what happened to that girl?"

"Please do not treat me like a child; of course I know what happened to her."

Kurenai nodded, "Well, it's just… you didn't seem to react when you saw her like that…" she started, trying to find the right way to ask her question.

"Are you asking why I didn't react? If that was your question, then it's because I was trained to abandon all emotion."

"What? That's… that's not right! You shouldn't see something like that and not feel anything!" Kurenai said, starting to raise her voice a bit.

"Lower your voice, we are in potentially dangerous territory. And you asked me why I didn't react, not if I felt anything."

"Oh… sorry, I'm just a little…" Kurenai begun apologizing, but stopped when she saw a light coming from underneath one of the doors.

"Hey, Cat, look." Kurenai said, and the ANBU turned to the door. She walked towards it, and quickly opened it. No one was inside, but there was a monitor screen on a table next to a VCR and a stack of tapes.

Cat and Kurenai checked the room, but found nothing out of the ordinary. Kurenai then walked up and checked out the VCR. "There's a tape in here…" she said to herself, then hit the play button. She really wished she hadn't hit the play button.

* * *

Gouzen and Riku were walking down the opposite way of where Cat and Kurenai went. They walked down the hall, checking rooms to see if they could find anything, nothing so far, when Gouzen suddenly stopped.

Riku turned towards him. "What is it, Gouzen?"

"… Something's not right… Be careful…" Gouzen whispered, and Riku nodded seriously.

They continued down the hall, and Riku heard a thump behind him. He spun, and hit the button on his radio. "Someone's here!" he said into the radio before he could even focus on what the noise was.

"Well now, that was some observational skill there," said a voice that made a chill run down Riku's spine, "but don't worry, I'm not here to fight. And don't bother with your radio again, I've jammed the signal."

When Riku could focus on everything behind him, he saw Gouzen lying face down on the floor, and Orochimaru standing behind him with a twisted smile.

"O-Orochimaru? We were sent to find out what happened to you," Riku said, not letting his guard down.

"Yes, well, I've decided to stop playing ninja. That village has always held me back, not allowing me to do certain jutsus, experiments to make ninja stronger, or even experiment for stronger soldier pills. The list goes on and on."

Riku was silent, just staring at him. "Would you like to come with me, Riku-kun? I know they're holding you back as well; placing that seal on your chakra, not letting you take certain missions, always monitoring you, it must be frustrating that they don't just allow you to be yourself, right?"

Riku didn't say anything, but several markings on his arms, legs and face glowed black. "There, you see? You can't even use your chakra normally; your birth-right has been stolen from you. They were scared of you, so they put you in a cage."

Riku blinked several times, and he tried to call on his chakra again, and again the seals glowed. "They're crippling you; they made you no more than a normal ninja. But you want more than that, I can feel it," Orochimaru said, stepping closer to Riku, "I can feel your need to get stronger. I can unbind you, though. I can set you free. Will you come with me?"

It was dead silent for several moments, and then Riku answered.

"Yes."

Author's box

* * *

Kurenai's past FTW! It's not over yet, though, and I'm gonna do another one later for Anko's side of these events. Uuuummmmmmmmmmmm… oh! yeah, I did a new story, incase not everyone noticed, but it's an evangelion story. Everyone should go check it out, it has receive SIX awesome reviews! And their all super positive! Now, SIX is a lot in less than a week compared to this one's first chapter, I believe I got 4 reviews in the first month. Hmm… so, yeah, I just realized that I use the term "So, yeah," and "But, yeah," a lot. I was looking back on my past author's box's and stuff, and the only time I used one besides that was when I went emo, and said "so, um,". If anyone noticed this before, than you are more observant than I am… where was I going? I don't remember. Hmmm… sorry for giving you Kurenai's clothing in the form of a paint drawing, I had no idea how to not screw up the explanation. Har har. Make sure you leave me reviews! They are important to the writers digestion process. Oh yeah! And, I realized, I don't just want reviews, I want you to tell me what you thought of the story. I don't know if that makes sense to anyone, but there it is. And, in the first OMAKE, "Gai'm shining?" is a play on words or whatever. It's like "I'm shining?" I didn't know if it would confuse anyone, so I had to make it clear.

* * *

OMAKE 1: Gai'm shining?

The real reason why Gai's teeth shone like they did is because for one of his matches with Kakashi, he decided it would be a smiling contest. Kakashi agreed, but lost after he got bored and quit a few minutes later. Gai, however, decided to smile as bright as he could, and for as long as he could, so that Kakashi could never call it only a close win, or try to beat his record later. Gai smiled like that for one full month, eating food with a ridiculously sized grin, sleeping with it, talking, drinking, fighting, missions, for the entire month. They had to bring him to the hospital to fix his grin, as his lips refused to move back to their original position. Gai is now 'Gifted' with his trademark sparkle added to any grin/smile he might decide the world needs to see. Not even just when he grins/smiles; sometimes he'll just be talking, and it'll be shining out at you.

OMAKE 2: The ultimate ninja?

"Not really, but you might be able to make your eyes look that way with genjutsu." Kurenai suddenly did a few simple seals and her eyes inverted to the aforementioned colors.

Naruto's eyes sparkled more brightly than ever as he realized the power of genjutsu.

4 years later

"Hokage-sama!" a man shouted from behind the as he bursted through the doors to the Hokage's office, causing the newest Hokage to spin around in his swivel chair.

"Please don't yell, Kakashi-san. Now, what was it?" the blonde Hokage asked, and the man gulped.

"U-umm…o-oh yeah! Here, this scroll just arrived from Kumo!" he said hurriedly, and handed the Hokage the scroll.

Black scleras (The technical word for the white of your eyes) and red irises scrolled down the scroll, and the Hokage chuckled. "They surrender. Kumo was the last to surrender, so now all the elemental nations are unified! This is a great day!"

The man who would go down in history as arguably the strongest man to ever live, rivaling the sage of six paths, relaxed into his chair. This same man would also go down in history as the first, and the last person to ever reach the title of Kage using solely genjutsu. And the same man would also go down in history (The perverted history text book) as the only man to ever have 20 wives, all living not more than 10 blocks from each other, with out any being the wiser until he died of old age. Only then would the genjutsu he put them all under to be unable to recognize each other wear off. His casket was stomped 50 ft. into the ground after they found out. One of his 80 children became Hokage, a girl, and her mother and stepmothers convinced her to pass harsher laws for husbands and boy friends caught cheating. After learning of the law, not a single man ever cheated on his girl again.


	18. 16 Thrown Away pt2 sorry, i got lazy

Well, I kind of lost confidence from last chapters reviews. The reviews I got were welcome, but I got half as much as last chapter and the chapter before that, and they stayed there until i was finished with the chapter. So then that, on top of the review of one "Kkk" that said I did bad, and over narrated the flash back, I started doubting myself a bit. I tried doing different stuff, and over analyzing everything I wrote, and I'm not sure I did too hot on this chapter. Also, yes "Namikazestorm" your reviews do help a lot, and I apologize if I ruined this chapter for you. Also, if you are one of the 80 or so people who read last chapter, and didn't get to see the picture of Kurenai's dress, I fixed it. It took me like, 20 minutes to figure out it fudged up and fix it. Uh… oh, I would also like to ask anyone who can draw if they could draw up some of the characters in different outfits, and the picture they had last chapter of Team 8. I got one "Aly Holder" who has agreed to draw for me, to which I am eternally grateful, but any additional drawings that anyone could draw for me, and put up somewhere on the internet for people to see, would be very helpful. I'm not that great at description, so it would be cool to see my story in art form, and it could also be some awesome promotion for 'Team Naruto'. not enough people know the joys my story can bring, so it would be cool if they could… know… the joys… or something… damn I did a bad job on this thing. I think my humor evaporated or something… maybe I'm getting sick…

Yeah, we got 'Emotionally Unstable Fangirl' and 'InsanityIsTheNewBlack' all up in that beta work!

Upgraded chapter! The "chapter 22" version of myself has come back in time to touch this chapter up! No need to thank me, I'm just doing my job. Now there aren't so many (any) of the different people talking in the same paragraph stuff going on, as well as other 'touch up' stuff things, such as grammar corrections.

* * *

Fukuda was sitting besides the girl in the hallway when he saw Cat approaching him with a sick looking Kurenai following her, carrying a stack of tapes. "Fukuda, we found several video tapes and documents of several illegal activities."

Fukuda nodded, then looked in the direction Gouzen and Riku went and talked into his neck radio, "Gouzen, Riku, have you found anything?"

Nothing but static came back over the channel. "Gouzen? Riku?" he repeated, but no response. Fukuda looked to the ANBU, and then hurried in the direction his students left. Cat followed after him, and so did Kurenai until she noticed the young girl was still sitting against the wall.

"Come on, we can't get separated." The girl made no response, so Kurenai leaned down and grabbed her arm. The girl looked up at her, then got up and followed.

Kurenai ran down the hall with the girl right behind her, then she saw Fukuda and Cat just standing there in the hall.

"Fukuda-sensei! What happened, why did you stop?"

Fukuda stepped to the side, and Kurenai saw Gouzen lying on the floor. "Gouzen!" she cried out, dropping the video tapes on the floor as she ran forward.

"He's fine, Kurenai, just unconscious." Fukuda explained, examining the hall one more time.

Kurenai ignored him, and checked Gouzen anyway. After she was satisfied that nothing was wrong with him, she turned to see the girl in the trench coat standing beside her.

She was holding the tapes Kurenai had dropped, offering them to her with slightly outstretched arms. Kurenai took the tapes. "Thank you," she said to the girl with unmoving, lifeless eyes.

"She is able to understand us, on some level, and with that action… I guess she just shut down her emotional functions. Something truly traumatic must have happened," Fukuda commented, and Kurenai felt like loosing her lunch again. Only her training as a ninja kept it down, any normal man or woman would have emptied the contents of their stomachs by now.

"D-do you know what happened to Gouzen? Or where Riku-kun is?" Kurenai asked, desperate to change the subject.

"… No, there's no sign of him. God I hope he was kidnapped," Fukuda said, then turned to Gouzen and picked him up.

"What! How can you say such a thing sensei!" Kurenai yelled as Fukuda slung his unconscious student over his shoulder.

"I'll explain it later. We have no idea how long Gouzen will be out. Without him, we can't check the traces of chakra left here to see exactly what happened, so we need to leave; this is not a safe place to relax." The ANBU nodded, but Kurenai started to protest.

"Fukuda-sensei! We can't just leave Riku-kun! We have to fi—"she objected, but a look from her sensei stopped her mid-word.

"Kurenai, I know how you feel about Riku, and I am sorry for making you leave without knowing he's okay, but we're leaving. Bring Anko with you," Fukuda said in a harsh tone the young Chunin had never heard the easygoing, cheerful and lighthearted sensei use.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she could only nod her head. She turned to grab Anko, and saw she was standing by her side, glaring at her sensei. Well, as close to glaring at the man you can get with a stoic expression. She also noticed glowing black marks outlined in red starting to creep up her face and neck.

"A-Anko?" Kurenai stuttered , and the girls eyes slid to her. "It's fine Anko. Come on," she said in a reassuring tone, lightly grabbing her arm. The girl blinked, then the marks faded back under the trench coat.

When Kurenai looked up, Cat and Fukuda were watching her cautiously. "It's fine, she's okay," Kurenai told them, and they gave her short nods. They made sure to keep an eye on the girl however, making sure she never got out of sight.

They made their way to the exit/entrance. When they made it there, however, the fake rock wall that they came in from closed, then a metal door shot up from behind them to seal off any retreat. "W-wha?" Kurenai stuttered out in surprise, "What happened?"

Before Fukuda could answer, the sound of glass breaking could be heard somewhere over where the green tinted containers were. They turned and saw a… for lack of a better word, monster, slide out of the now broken tank and onto the floor.

It was a man, with greenish blue skin color that looked very rough with all of the little spikes coming out of his skin. He also had metallic tubes going in and out of his gigantic back. The man got up, and they noticed a few more features… like the fact that he almost stood 9 feet tall and was about 3 feet wide at the shoulders. His left arm looked normal enough, for who they were looking at, but his right arm was shocking. It looked like someone had, quite grotesquely, removed half of his forearm and replaced it with a giant 3 foot piece of metal that looked like it was supposed to be the blade of a broadsword. The skin and muscles from his arm looked like they had attached themselves to the metal as well.

As they continued to scale the colossal creature with their eyes, they noticed he also had a giant metal plate embedded in his chest with his heart visible through a purple tinted window. As they continued upwards, they noticed he had no lips, his teeth were jagged, and he had two tusks coming out from his lower row of teeth. He also had what looked like a seal, written on paper, wrapped around his eyes. It had a circle of markings around the center, and then the markings stretched out across the rest of the wrap. He was bald as well, and it looked like the top of his skull had been replaced with a metal dome.

"… Um… Fukuda-sensei?" Kurenai asked, not even sure herself what she was trying to ask.

The ANBU snaps her fingers, then is quiet for a moment. "...There is not enough moisture in the area for me to be effective."

The man took a step towards them and the ground shook. "God. Fucking. Damn it," Fukuda said slowly as the man stepped towards them, realizing that the monster's size made it so that its reach was almost half the room.

"Don't take any risks! Stay away from him no matter what!" Fukuda told them in an elevated tone of voice, "Try and damage him from a distance. Do, NOT, attempt close combat Kurenai. Understand?" he told her and she nodded.

The man was getting closer, and everyone jumped back so they're backs were practically against the wall, "Do what you can, Cat. Kurenai, when he starts to corner anyone, hit him up with your best genjutsu. And on my signal, we'll run around it." They both nodded, Kurenai put the tapes in the corner so they wouldn't be destroyed, and the man took another step forward.

Kurenai begun the attack, throwing kunai's at the creature. The tube's ingrained in its back were not visible at the moment, so she tried to hit some of the more fleshy parts on his body. It was highly ineffective, however, as they all bounced off of it's tough skin, clanging to the floor after they bounced off.

Cat begun her attack using wind-imbued kunai's, as there wasn't much moisture and she wanted to save it for dangerous moments. The glowing kunai's did in fact penetrate the monster's rough skin, but only by a few centimeters so they looked like darts stuck in a dartboard.

Fukuda was analyzing the monster, looking for any potential weak spots. He would have helped in the kunai throwing, but even wind-powered kunai (incase you don't remember, they can go through trees and rocks) could only barely pierce him.

The monster hadn't slowed its advance, however slow it actually was, and when it started to get within arms reach, Fukuda put his hands into an 'S' looking seal, and the monster seemed to freeze for a moment. "NOW!" he shouted, and ran as fast as he could with Gouzen on his shoulders. Cat made it easily by the monster, and so did Fukuda, but Kurenai was a little slow.

She would've made it, but she forgot to grab Anko. She tried to move back to grab the girl, and then the monster was behind her with its sword raised. "Krgah!" was the strangled garble-type noise it made as it tried bringing its sword down, but found it stuck.

The sword had been frozen to the ceiling, but that wasn't enough to save Kurenai. The monster moved faster than anyone would've thought possible for its size in grabbing Kurenai with its normal hand. "Kurenai!" Fukuda shouted as she screamed from the bone-crushing grip the creature had on her.

Fukuda dropped Gouzen and rushed to help his other student, but with a shatter, the ice binding its sword scattered, and it slashed downwards at him. Fukuda was barely able to dodge a fatal injury, but a huge gash was left on his chest underneath his shredded shirt.

'What? I… can't move!' was Fukuda's last thought before his consciousness faded.

Cat attempted a follow-up attack, jumping up at the monstrosity's hand with a wind-imbued ice-sword in an attempt to free Kurenai, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

It looked to her and its jagged teeth separated, and a thunderbolt shot from its mouth. A smoldering and singed ANBU landed on the floor, bouncing once before she rolled onto her stomach, unconscious.

The creature turned back to Kurenai, and then blood tricked out of its mouth. Kurenai, who was the most terrified she had ever been, and ever will be, couldn't even scream or formulate a thought in her mind.

Then she looked down to its chest, where the heart was visible, and saw an object poking into it and running through its heart. She looked further down. She saw Anko holding the ice-sword Cat had made, buried to the hand guard aimed upwards in the creatures chest.

Then she felt herself start to fall sideways as the creature toppled over. With a loud crash, and a shake of the room they were in, the monster hit the ground with Kurenai still in his hand. After she hit the ground, the fake rock door opened, and the metal door did as well.

She was able to, with slight difficulty, pry herself from its hand and get up. She looked at Anko, who was just watching her with an expressionless face, then to her fallen teammates.

She hurried over to Cat and checked her pulse. She had a one, so she moved over to Fukuda. 'Good, they're both alive.' Kurenai thought to herself, then moved over to Gouzen.

He was still unconscious, so she picked him up and slung him over her left shoulder. She moved back to Fukuda, and managed to get him over her right shoulder. She made her way over to Cat, leaned to her right a bit so Gouzen wouldn't fall, then grabbed the ANBU by the arm and brought it up to her shoulder so Gouzen couldn't roll off to the floor.

She looked around for Anko, and found the emotionless girl standing besides her holding the video tapes that Kurenai discarded in the fight. Kurenai nodded to her, then continued to carry her teammates and the ANBU out of the secret base.

Kurenai was able to bring them into the village, a considerable distance away considering she was carrying two people and dragging another, and was helped by a local innkeeper. The older woman carried Cat, and then she had her sons take Fukuda and Gouzen.

"Oh my goodness, thank you so much," Kurenai thanked the middle aged woman sincerely, collapsing onto her knees, "I'm not sure how much longer my back would've held together!"

"No problem, honey, you just go ahead and rest here!" the woman told Kurenai, then helped her into her inn, "I'll fix you up with a nice meal and a hot bath for you, your sister, and your friends, free of charge."

Kurenai looked back to Anko, who just stared back at her. "Thank you so much for your kindness."

The woman waved it off as she opened the front door of the inn, "No need to thank me, I'm just helping someone in need."

* * *

Kurenai spent about two hours cleaning Anko. She was covered in blood, sweat, and something else Kurenai wasn't familiar with. It smelled bad, and it was sticky. It was in her hair and all over her body. She was able to clean most everything off, and her hair was almost clean, albeit a bit messy and a little rough, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed with some brushing and soaking.

Kurenai, after she had finished washing Anko, brought the silent girl with her into the hot bath. There, she was able to relax her back a little in the tub, and brush through Anko's hair some more until it didn't look like a tumble weed anymore.

Anko's hair looked something like it normally did when it was dirty, but that was mainly because of the blood, sweat, and whatever the third substance was, had been holding it in that shape.

"Wow, that took a long time," Kurenai commented after they were done in the bath. "Well, you're all squeaky clean now. Do you want to go get some food?"

Anko didn't say anything, she just stared back at her. Kurenai sighed, then walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom wearing only a towel, and saw Gouzen sitting in a chair look up to her. "They haven't woken up yet?" she asked. After a moment of staring at her, he shook his head.

Gouzen had woken up shortly after they arrived, and he was very nervous in the room they were given. He had progressed to the point over the past two years where he would almost always answer her with words, and sometimes he would even be the first one to say something.

Fukuda was lying in one of the beds without his shirt, and bandages wrapped around his chest. Kurenai and Gouzen believe he was cut with some sort of knockout drug, as his wound wasn't enough to knock someone out like he was.

Cat was lying on the other bed. She had several burns from the lightning, but the hit she took seemed like it should have done more than it did; Kurenai figured she probably protected her skin with chakra at the last moment to buffer the hit. They had put ointment on all of her burns, and wrapped them up in bandages.

"Alright. Are you hungry? The woman who is letting us stay here offered to make us something to eat. Me and Anko are going to go get some food after we get dressed. Want to come?" she asked, but Gouzen made no movement for a moment. After a second or two, he shook his head.

"…Just in case…" he whispered just loud enough for her to hear.

She tilted her head and furrowed her brow in confusion. "Just in case what?" she asked, and he looked around cautiously. "…Trap…" he whispered again, and she nodded seriously.

"Oh, you're right. Just in case. We have to be careful."

Kurenai grabbed some clothes that were on the bed with Cat, then moved back into the bathroom and looked to Anko. She was just standing behind the door quietly. "Come on, the nice inn lady gave us some clothes for you to wear."

Kurenai helped Anko into the small dress; it was just a simple tan colored outfit, with a dress that went down to the floor, and sleeves that reached passed her fingertips. The woman said it used to belong to her daughter, who had married someone and moved away, but she still kept it around.

After Anko was completely dressed, Kurenai got her own clothes on, another spare set the innkeeper let them borrow. That one was a solid dark blue.

Kurenai led Anko out of the bathroom, and down the stairs into the room with the woman who was letting them stay there.

"Oh, there you two are! Oh… did she not like the way the dress looked?" the woman asked in slight disappointment, and Kurenai furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Huh?" she asked, then looked back to Anko. She was wearing Fukuda's trench coat over the dress.

"When'd she put that on…? No, she likes the dress, she just… feels comfortable wearing that, I guess. We'll have to get her one when we get home so Fukuda-sensei can keep that one."

"Oh, alright. Just tell me if something is wrong, okay sweety? Don't be afraid to ask for anything, neither."

Kurenai smiled and nodded, making sure to keep Gouzen's words in the back of her mind, '…Just in case… Trap…'

* * *

In the morning, Kurenai woke Gouzen up. Kurenai and Gouzen alternated between watching through the night, but nothing happened. Anko had stayed up the whole night anyway, without encouragement, and stayed relatively close to Kurenai the entire time.

After waking Gouzen up, Kurenai tried Fukuda and Cat again. "Fukuda-sensei?" she asked, and shook him slightly. His eyes snapped open, and he looked around the room.

"What? Where am—" he started, then looked to Kurenai, "Oh my god, Kurenai! What happened, last I saw you got caught by that monster!" he said, then winced a bit as his chest hurt.

He looked down, and Kurenai answered him, "Yeah, you got cut by that big guy, I think it had some kind of drug to put you to sleep, it must have been coated on its sword. Cat tried to help," and she pointed over to the other bed, "but that thing could shoot lightning from his mouth."

"Then… How? Gouzen?" he asked, looking to Gouzen, who was sitting in one of the chairs around the room. Gouzen shook his head, then pointed beside Kurenai. Anko was standing there, in his trench coat, staring at him.

"Anko? How'd she…" he started to ask, but trailed off.

"Don't really know, but she knew exactly how to attack it and killed it in one hit. I think maybe Orochimaru was training people against those things."

Fukuda started shaking his head. "Orochimaru? Why would he even make something like that, let alone make children fight against it?"

Then Kurenai felt a bit sick again, "…you'll know when you watch what's on those tapes we got."

Fukuda gave her a strange look, then nodded. Kurenai moved over to Cat, and shook her slightly. "Cat? Are you awake?" she asked, and after a moment, the cat mask looked around the room.

"What…" was all she said, then looked to Kurenai expectantly and waited for an explanation.

"Basically, Anko saved us. She stabbed it in the heart with your sword through a weak spot in its chest." Cat didn't say anything for a moment, then she nodded.

"All right everyone, we have to make it back to Konoha, so wake up. We're leaving right away, we have to get back and show the Hokage those tapes we found."

* * *

They had gotten up pretty quickly, and left almost immediately afterward. Fukuda tried to get his trench coat back, but it wasn't happening. Anko ran from him, and hid behind Kurenai, so he just let her wear it until they got her one of her own. The stopped downstairs to thank the woman who let them stay there for the night.

They were about a day away from Konoha by tree, and luckily, Anko, who was carrying the tapes again, was able to jump through the trees with them.

After a few minutes of tree-hopping, Kurenai spoke up. "Hey, Fukuda-sensei. About Riku… can you tell me about him now?" she asked, and he glanced back at her.

"Can you wait until we get to Konoha? What I have to say will definitely distract you enough to become dangerous while jumping through trees."

"… alright, I can wait…" she answered, and turned her concentration on the trees.

* * *

As they got close to Konoha, they decided to land on the road and walked for the remainder of the way.

After they landed, Fukuda called to his students. "Kurenai, I'll tell you about Riku now. You listen too, Gouzen."

They both looked at their sensei. "Well, do you remember when Riku came back from a bunch of tests one day, and had those markings on him and he couldn't use his negative chakra anymore?"

They nodded, and he continued. "Those were seals; they were placed on him for his own safety, and the safety of everyone around him. You see, negative chakra is very easy to use, and is accidentally used many times if the person does not have a high level of chakra-control. It is also very powerful and destructive. When he was younger, about 6, he accidentally killed his parents, his brother, and his sister."

Kurenai gasped, and Gouzen nodded solemnly. "The event was very traumatizing to him, and to protect him, mental blocks were put on his mind of the event. He can't remember what happened, but he still has nightmares about it. Anyway, after he killed his family, his emotions pretty much shut down; that's why he always seems so detached."

Fukuda sighed, and looked back to his students. Kurenai was holding her hands over her mouth, and she looked to be holding tears back. Gouzen seemed to get even quieter than he had been, even though he hadn't said anything since Fukuda started.

"The seals were placed on him because he was mentally unstable, and both the ninja council and village council worried that he might snap one day and kill everyone he could until he was stopped. He had the potential to be a truly strong ninja, and that was the only reason he was even allowed to be a ninja in the first place. The reason I said I hoped he was kidnapped was because the only other possibility is that he snapped and left us. He could become very dangerous, especially if he can find someway to remove the seals put on him, and we would be forced to kill him."

Everyone was quiet for the rest of the walk to Konoha, until they made it to the gates. "Kurenai, could you give me the tapes and documents? I'm going to go look through them, then me and Cat can report in to the Hokage. You and Gouzen take Anko to the hospital. Oh, and could you go get her another trench coat? I like that one." he finished, smiling slightly to try and lighten the mood a bit.

Everyone nodded, and Kurenai grabbed the tapes from Anko and gave them to her sensei. After they passed through the village gates, Cat and Fukuda shunshined off somewhere, and Kurenai headed off to the hospital with Anko and Gouzen.

* * *

Kurenai and Gouzen brought Anko to the hospital to get her checked out. The med-ninja who checked her said that while she did have several smaller cuts and bruises, there were other and larger ones that had already been healed by a med-ninja.

The people who tortured Anko had healed her in-between "sessions" so she wouldn't die.

After that, getting Anko patched up and diagnosed, they headed across the village to a clothing shop Kurenai frequented. They sold all types of clothing, ninja gear, civilian clothes, and they even had a section for nobility.

"Oh, hello Kurenai-chan!" the woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, called from behind the counter as they walked into the store, "What brings you here today?"

"Hey Ivy, I need some clothes for little Anko here."

Anko looked at the woman with the same look she had given everyone since she was found. Ivy looked troubled by the girl's expressionless expression, so Kurenai decided to explain. "She went through some bad things, so now she's like that. She looks at everyone like that, it's nothing personal."

Ivy nodded. "Um, was there anything in particular that you wanted to get?" she asked, looking down to Anko. She made no indication that she heard the woman, so Kurenai spoke on her behalf.

"Well, at the least, we need a trench coat like the one she's wearing. She stole sensei's, and won't give it back."

Ivy chuckled, then looked back down to the girl. "I have some of those over here, but they are all a little big for her. That okay?"

Once again, Anko made no response so Kurenai spoke up for her. "Yeah, it'll be fine. We'll just see if she sees anything she likes."

They moved to the back of the store, where they saw a row of trench coats. It was a decent sized collection, but small compared to the rest of the store. There were about thirty different trench coats, and after a little coaxing, Anko decided to look through them.

They watched as she looked through them, then stop about halfway through. "Anko?" Kurenai asked, and Anko took off Fukuda's trench coat and threw it to the floor. She took one of the coats off of the rack and put it on; it was a tan one that hung down so it rested on the floor when she wore it.

After a few moments off not moving, Anko turned around and took her place back at Kurenai's side. "Well, I guess she likes that one." Kurenai said, then chuckled as she bent down to pick up the discarded trench coat.

"Well, is that all, or did you want to grab something else?" Ivy asked, but Anko didn't respond. "Um… I don't think there's anything else, so lets just check out."

They headed to the front of the store. "How much is that coat? It says it on the sleeve," Ivy said as she reached the counter, and looked back towards Anko… who was missing.

"Uh…Anko?" Kurenai asked as she looked around. She was nowhere to be seen, so Kurenai walked back through the store. "Anko?" she called, checking through the isles of clothing. She finally found Anko, standing in front of a selection ninja gear and staring at one item in particular.

"You like the shin guards?" she asked, and Anko looked to her, then back to the shin guards that seemed to have an angelic light beaming in through the window on them. Kurenai sighed, then grabbed the pair Anko was staring at.

"Come on Anko."

She made it to the front of the store, and paid for the coat and the shin guards. A little more than Kurenai would've liked to pay, but it was worth it to see Anko show some level of emotion as she walked pridefully beside her with her new shin guards and trench coat.

"… mini Fukuda-sensei…" Gouzen said as he watched her walk beside Kurenai.

"Huh? Oh yeah, with the coat and the shin guards, she kind of does."

* * *

Fukuda and Cat had watched through the tapes. Not every second, but they had fast-forwarded through to any parts that looked like they had some bit of information in them.

Fukuda could barely contain his anger as he watched the tapes; now he would now all-out attack Orochimaru if he ever saw him again. After about an hour of fast forwarding, both Cat and Fukuda finished with the tapes and brought them to the Hokage's office.

There was a TV set up, connected to a VCR, in the room. Fukuda put in the first tape.

"This is the first video tape we retrieved from that base we found Anko at. It's pretty disturbing." Both the third and fourth Hokage, the only other two in the room beside Fukuda and Cat, nodded their acknowledgement.

The fourth was sitting behind the Hokage's desk, and the third was sitting in a chair beside the desk.

Fukuda took a deep breath, then hit the play button.

Orochimaru walked into a room, and Anko followed. "Now Anko," Orochimaru started, turning to her, "this is your last chance. I will let you stop following me if you want; it's all up to you."

Anko looked down, looking ashamed, "Yeah… I want to do it like the others, I really do, but I just can't… I don't know why, but I just can't kill people like the other kids can."

Orochimaru nodded, "I see. Well, you definitely had potential, and if there is nothing I can do to change your mind," he said, then paused to look at her. She made no movement, still staring at the floor, "Then I'll have to use you in the only remaining way you are useful."

The door they entered through opened, and two large men, the ones found dead beside Anko, entered the room. "O-Orochimaru-sama?" Anko stuttered, and Orochimaru handed the two men soldier pills. The men took the pills, then moved towards Anko. "O-Orochimaru-sama, what are they doing?" she asked, raising her voice a little and backing away from the two men.

"They will be testing how much you're body can endure until you're mind breaks. If you aren't going to be of anymore use to me, the least you can do is show me the limits of the curse mark." The men had cornered Anko at this point, and grabbed her.

"Ahhhhhhhh!" she screamed as they forced her to the floor.

"Nooo! O-Orochimaru-sama! Stop them!" she pleaded, and then one of the men ripped her shirt off, "No, please! O-Oro-nii-sama!" she cried.

He shook his head, "I've told you not to call me that."

One of the men started undoing his pants, "Ah, no, what are you doing! STOP! Oro-nii-sam—" she started, but the screen froze as Fukuda hit the pause button.

He was looking down at the VCR for a moment. "This tape was dated the day Orochimaru and his team arrived in the land of sea. He hadn't responded for four days after that. So you sent us the very next day, and it took us a day to get there. She was there for six days."

He looked up to the current and past Hokage, the former looking pissed and the latter looking horrified.

"Those soldier pills they took gave them an insane energy boost, even for soldier pills, and she was tortured for 22 hours a day. At the end of each day, Orochimaru had a medic heal her wounds so she wouldn't die, then started again immediately after. They also gave her some kind of drugs throughout the day; we don't know what drugs, or what they did exactly. Orochimaru was there for all of it, too. In every tape but the last one."

"Why," the older Hokage started in a horse and uneven tone, then coughed into his hand, "Why was he there the whole time?"

Cat answered. "We believe he wanted to inflict as much damage as possible at once. Emotional, sexual, physical, psychological, everything he could do at once, he did. She was calling out for him to save her the whole time, so he stayed where she could see. Before he left, he even participated in the sexual abuse. It was the last thing that he did, but she still didn't stop crying out to him. After that, he left, and shortly after that, she snapped and killed the two men."

The fourth was sitting quietly, staring intensely at the image of Orochimaru on the screen. "Do whatever it takes to find him. When you do, I will end his life personally."

"I… I don't even know how to describe how ashamed I am to have trained him…" the third said as he sank into his chair.

"… what of the rest of Orochimaru's team? Kabuto and Sanji, do any of those tapes reveal anything about them?" the blonde Hokage asked, shifting his expression into a curious one as he looked to Fukuda.

"No sir, not that we know of. We skimmed through the tapes so we could quickly report what happened, you'll have to have someone else analyze them more thoroughly.

He nodded, "Alright. Go and get Anko, bring her to here to have her mind examined. We need to find out the full scale of the damage Orochimaru caused that girl."

"Yes sir."

* * *

Kurenai, Gouzen, and Anko had just finished picking up the trench coat when Fukuda arrived.

"Oh, I see you got my coat back for me. Thank you very much, I'll pay you back for however much it costs, Kurenai."

Kurenai waved him off, "Nah, it wasn't that much, don't worry about it."

Fukuda smiled. "Are you sure? Well, regardless, I need to bring Anko to the Hokage tower to understand the full amount of damage done by Orochimaru."

"Alright, lets go." Kurenai said, then looked down to the expressionless Anko as she watched Fukuda cautiously, holding her new trench coat protectively over her small body.

* * *

They arrived at the tower, quickly making their way to the room where they would examine Anko. The doctor who would examine her came from the room.

"Alright, you're here now, good. We need Anko alone for this, though, is that okay?" he asked, and Anko stepped away from him, moving behind Kurenai.

"Come on, Anko, he won't do anything bad, he's a doctor. Besides, I'll be right out here for you. If anything happens, I'll come and get you, okay?" Kurenai tried to persuade Anko, but it wasn't happening. Anko stayed behind her, watching the doctor warily.

Kurenai sighed. "Is there really no way I can go with her?" she asked, and the doctor shook his head.

"No, this is a special room. It will connect everyone in the room's mental chakra, and it will allow me to determine the damage done. If anyone else is in there, the chakra's will get crossed up, and I won't be able to tell who's brain I'm checking."

Kurenai nodded, then turned to Anko. "I can't go in there with you, but I'll be right here, okay?"

Anko just stared at her, not moving n the slightest. Kurenai sighed again. "Okay, okay. How about I give you something special to protect you?" she said, and reached in her ninja pouch, pulling out a kunai.

"My mom gave me this kunai before she died. You see these markings?" she said, and pointed to the engravings on the blade and handle, "These are special charms. They protect you from harm, and they'll keep you connected to whoever gave it to you. In your case, that's me. Okay?"

Anko took the kunai, and ran her fingers over the engravings. Kurenai smiled, then sidestepped so Anko wasn't behind her anymore. "Go on, Anko, you'll be fine." Kurenai encouraged, and Anko walked forward into the room.

"Wow, I didn't think she would go through with just that," the doctor commented, then turned into the room and shut the door.

* * *

Flash forward: 1 year and 10 months (Alert! there exist in this world people who don't read my patented "Author's Box" *Gasp* e-gad! well, You, DO NOT, want to do that this chapter. Very important stuff in this one, very valuable information, and you won't understand many things without reading it.)

* * *

Almost two years passed, with no sign of Orochimaru or Riku. Anko had made little progress, but progress none the less. Kurenai was confident in her own skills as a ninja, as Gouzen was in his, and they were getting ready to take the Jounin exams. Kurenai was now 15, Gouzen just turned 16, and Anko was 12.

Kurenai and Gouzen were visiting Anko at the hospital one day. She was kept in the hospital for whenever she was alone, but she would often go out with Kurenai and Gouzen. Fukuda and the third Hokage would also often come to visit her, separately, to see how she was doing.

"Hey, Anko! How're you doing today?" Kurenai asked as she poked her head into Anko's room. Anko looked up at her, then hopped out of bed and walked over to the door.

"… all ready to go…?" Gouzen asked, and she gave a curt nod.

"Alright, come on! We're going to the festival today!" Kurenai said, and closed the door behind Anko, flipping the little sign on the door that said 'Anko has gone out with Kurenai.'

Kurenai turned to look at Anko. She was wearing the same coat she had picked out two years ago, that now only barely touched the floor, with the same shin guards. But now she was wearing a mesh shirt, that she stole from Kurenai, and a loose gray tank top with a tan skirt that went down to her knees as well.

They left the hospital, and when they were outside, Anko grabbed Kurenai's and Gouzen's hand. They both looked down to her standing in-between them, then to each other with bewildered expressions, then Kurenai smiled and looked back forward. Gouzen gave Anko one more glance, then looked forward as well.

They walked with her hanging onto their hands, and Kurenai blushed when she heard one of the passing people comment, saying something along the lines of "Their so young to be having kids, aren't they?"

She glanced over to Gouzen, but he didn't appear to have heard it. She smiled, blushing a little more.

After they got to the festival, Anko dragged them to each and every game they could play. Even though she wasn't showing much of any emotion, it appeared to be the happiest Anko had been in a while, and the closest she had been to being a normal little girl since they found her.

They came upon one game in particular that Kurenai wanted to try. A crossbow type of game, but the crossbow had no bow, and there was no visible arrow in it. The man who ran the stand said it was a "gun" that he had bought while in a foreign country.

Kurenai had never seen, or even held one before, but she tried to hit the target bulls-eye anyway.

She missed the board by 10 feet.

Gouzen, on the other hand, was a little more familiar with "guns" as his family brought him to foreign places last year for a vacation.

"…no, like this…" he said, and walked up behind her. His chest was against her back while he positioned the gun against her shoulder, and the muzzle lined up so she could look through the sight. "…and then…" he whispered, and put his hand over hers and pulled the trigger.

It was a bulls-eye.

Kurenai took a deep breath in surprise, then turned back to look at Gouzen. Their faces were almost touching, and her heart sped up considerably.

"You know," Kurenai started, gulped and blushed a bit, "we... still haven't kissed in public yet."

"…understood…" he said, and twisted her body towards him and back a little, then gave her the deepest kiss they had shared since they started dating. The gun slipped from her fingers to the table, and her knees went wobbly as her eyes fluttered. She felt lightheaded, and then she heard clapping. Her eyes flicked open, and she looked around, still connected to Gouzen through the kiss, to look for the source of the clapping.

She found it, standing there, with a grin, was the clapping individual. "Mmemmu?" Kurenai tried to say through the kiss, but it didn't come out right.

Gouzen pulled away, and followed her eyes to their long gone teammate. "…Riku…?" he said, and Riku nodded.

"Well, it looks like you two are having fun," he said with a crooked smile.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Kurenai asked, completely shocked by his presence to the point where she could barely think.

"Well, don't I feel welcome? No, 'how are you?', 'what happened?', 'we were so worried'?" he asked, and shook his head, "well, maybe I'm not welcome here."

"…kidnapped…" Gouzen said, and Riku smiled.

"Why, yes Gouzen, yes I was. And not once did any of you come looking for me," he said, smiling again, "but… I can see you were busy."

"N-no, it wasn't- we didn't- we did! We couldn't find you anywhere!" Kurenai argued, and Riku chuckled.

"Did you really think I was hiding at a shooting range? Or in each other's mouths?" he asked, and Kurenai couldn't reply.

"No, no, it's fine. I'm back now, so it's all good. I'll see you around!" he said, then shunshined away.

Kurenai and Gouzen looked to each other, then down to Anko, who was standing beside them and watching where Riku had been.

* * *

"Yes, Riku has returned." Fukuda explained to his two students and Anko outside of the Hokage tower. "He is saying he was kidnapped and tortured, but led Orochimaru to believe he broke him. When he was allowed some freedoms, he used them to escape. That's his story."

"Um… He was… ha-have you met him, Fukuda-sensei?" Kurenai asked, and he nodded. "What happened to him? Was it the torture? He's… not like he used to be."

"It might have been that, but we can't rule out the possibility that he is now an enemy. He was held in enemy territory for nearly two years, and his personality has definitely changed. Don't let your guard down."

His students nodded. "…Understood…" "Okay" they said in unison.

Fukuda left, heading into the tower to talk with the Hokage about Riku, he said, and Gouzen turned to Kurenai.

"… I'll take Anko back to the hospital, you can go home…" he said.

She looked surprised. "You sure? We could still spend a little more time with Anko, the festival is still going on."

Gouzen shook his head. "…you need time alone to think…" he said, and took Anko by the hand and led her to the hospital.

Kurenai sighed, then smoothed her right eyebrow over with her left thumb.

'Yeah... I do,' she thought, then headed home.

* * *

Kurenai made it home after taking the shortest route, as she just wanted to relax in her room at the moment. She got to her house, and made her way to her bedroom in the back, when someone's voice stopped her.

"Kurenai…" the voice called as she entered her room, "you're finally here."

She turned to face the voice, and saw Riku standing in the doorway of her bedroom. "R-R-Riku? Wha-what are you—" she started, but he interrupted.

"Shhhh, Kurenai. You don't need to worry, I'm back now. You know, you were the only thing that kept me sane," he said as he took a step into her room, "While I was wasting away with Orochimaru, only the thought of being together with you again kept me from breaking."

Kurenai shook her head as he continued towards her, but didn't say anything.

"You don't know how long I've wanted you, Kurenai-chan. Since the first day I saw you when we became a team." he was now standing directly in front of her.

"G-Gouzen…" she whispered, but was unable to even understand herself, or what she was trying to say after that, as he kissed her.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she realized she was kissing him back. He pulled away after a minute, and she was breathless, panting for air. "N-n… n-no, I-I can't…" she panted out as he eased her down onto the bed, and begun kissing and sucking on her neck. She gasped, and her fingers flexed, "G-Gouzen…"

"Don't worry, I'll make you forget all about him," Riku said as he started pulling off her shirt.

She grabbed his hands as her senses came back to her just enough for her to think straight. "I… no, I can't, Riku, I… I'm with Gouzen…" she panted out, and he pulled back.

"Kurenai-chan, I'm so much better than him, can't you see that? How can I make you see that?" he asked, and she pulled her shirt back on. "Fine," he said, and shunshined away, leaving Kurenai alone to curse herself for being so weak and betraying Gouzen.

* * *

About 10 minutes later, Kurenai decided to go see Anko. Anko always made her feel better when she was having difficulty. Seeing how much she went through, and still be able to function like she did, it always gave Kurenai strength. Knowing she would be able to over come anything, because as a big-sister type, she couldn't give in to something so small. As a big-sister, she had to set a good example.

"Anko?" Kurenai called through the room as she opened the door, "I came to…" she started, but stopped as she saw what was in the room.

Riku was standing there, covered in blood, and Gouzen and Fukuda were lying dead on the floor. "Oh, Kurenai-chan. There you are, I was just going to go see you."

"uh—… uh—…" Kurenai stuttered as she looked to Gouzen's lifeless face.

"See? He isn't in the way anymore. You don't have to hold yourself back anymore, you can do what you truly want."

He stepped towards her, and held out his hands, "I hadn't meant to kill Fukuda-sensei, but he tried to stop me. I do feel a little bad, but it's alright, I still have you."

Kurenai couldn't even understand what he was saying until she tasted blood. Her eyes flicked into awareness, and she saw Riku kissing her. She pulled back, "N-no, Riku… what have you…" she started, and he frowned.

"You told me too. You said you couldn't because of Gouzen. Now he's gone, so we can be together."

"NO!" she screamed, and flashed through several seals. A large tree formed up and around Gouzen, and she was at his throat with a kunai. She held it there for a long time, 'He's an enemy… he killed them, I have to…' she thought, but her hand wouldn't move forward.

"What are you doing? Are you turning against me too?" Riku asked in a hurt voice. After the question, his hand shot forward, grabbing her by the throat, the action causing the tree to flake out of existence. She clawed at his hand and gasped for air as he rose her up off her feet.

"I loved you," he said, then spun her around and slammed her into the ground head first. "I came back for you; we could've lived happily together." He started squeezing harder, and her vision started to black out.

Then he let go, and disappeared from sight. "GET AWAY FROM KU-NEE-CHAN!" she heard shouted from somewhere she couldn't quite discern. Her eyes searched the room, and she eventually found Anko standing beside her with several snakes coming from the sleeves of her coat.

Kurenai stood up on shaky legs, and faced Riku. He had tears streaming down his face. "I loved you. I didn't want to have to kill you. Why couldn't you just come with me?"

He started steaming black chakra, and his eyes inverted, but a glowing blue sphere hit him, then exploded and solidified into a small iceberg with spikes coming from the sides.

Cat, along with two other ANBU, came in from the window, "Alert, Riku is an enemy. He is at the hospital, attacking Konoha ninja," the eagle faced ANBU spoke into his neck radio.

After a moment, the iceberg exploded with a pulse of black chakra, and Riku looked out at his new enemies. "… I really did love you. I'll come back for you one day, I'll take you back with me," he said, then disappeared in a flash of black chakra.

The ANBU team chased after him, and Kurenai fell to the floor. "Ku-nee-chan, are you okay?" Anko asked, rushing over and kneeling down next to Kurenai.

That was the last thing Kurenai heard before she passed out.

Author's box

* * *

… dude… EPIC (not really)! Oh. Em. Gee! Anyway, so, yeah, shit pretty much just hit the fan when Riku came back. this is also the end of the flash back, the next chapter will be back in present time. But, here, I want to take a moment to talk about some very important things concerning the story that I can't put in the actual story because the characters don't actually know, and will never know. You know, psychological stuff and shit.

First off, if you hadn't noticed, Anko has based her outfit on that of Kurenai and Fukuda. She took the mini skirt type thing and mesh shirt Kurenai wore, and she took the trench coat and shin guards from Fukuda. She stole Kurenai's mesh shirt and skirt because over the years, she had started to get attached to her, and saw her as a big sister she wanted to be like.

If you noticed, on the video tape, she called Orochimaru "Oro-nii-sama." She had found an older brother in Orochimaru, but he betrayed her, so she switched over to Kurenai as a big sister, as she was desperate for… well, I'll explain that in a later chapter. Anyway, she stole Fukuda's look because she wants to be a sensei. Now, remember how she got excited whenever Naruto called her sensei? While funny and cute, it wasn't for nothing. She has sort of replaced her self with the older sibling and sensei figure that Orochimaru was to her (with the clothing).

That's why she was so desperate for a team. She sort of wanted to do right, or fix what Orochimaru did by becoming what he was and doing good. Secondly, she dressed Naruto in clothes almost identical to Gouzen. She is very confused, psychologically, and that was her trying to fix what Riku did, the death of Gouzen, and the relationship that ended with his death.

Even if she knew that fact, she would be unsure of who exactly she is trying to repair the relationship with, herself as Kurenai (as she is trying to become Kurenai in a sense), or Kurenai herself. And do you remember back when she was all crying and stuff when she was all lusting after Naruto? that was very painful for her. Go back and read it (Chapter 09 One More Step), but here is the main piece.

"…I was gonna… so many things I wanted to do. I would've, but then I heard him call me. In my head, I could hear him, and then I realized what I was doing. He is… he's so much younger than me… he's my student… he's… he's my little brother, Naruto…"

"…Then I looked back to him, and realized what I was trying to do was wrong. I went back to my tent… I felt like shit, like just the most horrible person on the planet, and cried myself to sleep."

When she talks about the things she would've done, she was imagining doing to him what was done to her on those video tapes. And when she heard him calling to her in her mind, she remembered how she felt when she called out to her sensei, when she called out to her older brother, Orochimaru, and he continued anyway. she was essentially going to take up Orochimaru's place when he raped Anko, and she would have forced Naruto to have taken up Anko's. when she looked to him again, she realized that that was wrong, and cried herself to sleep for wanting to go through with it anyway, after remembering the pain and knowing what it could do to naruto. So, yeah, some pretty deep stuff going on in Anko's psyche all the time.

I think my humor and normal personality really is gone, I haven't even made any good jokes yet… alright, I haven't made any half-way decent jokes yet… dammit, my joke level has dropped. There, that one isn't implying I normally make worth-typing jokes, is it?

also, make sure to check out my new story, 'A Future Never Told'. and, to anyone who hasn't already, there is a new poll up on my page about picking your two favorite characters. if you would please vote on that, that'd be great.

* * *

Instead of an omake or two (cause I can't think of any), i'l put up a rhyming section. Enjoy.

I did my best, i guess... i must confess, with detest, this aint the best of this mess as of yet, and i regret writing this jest without zest. a little less, and at best, we are left with nothing excess of just text. And unless you could attest your unrest with an assess of this mesh of this talentless, undeveloped quest, then this pooling cess of literary regress can't progress.

Basically, I said i'm sorry for not putting in as much effort, and if you don't tell me how i'm doing, how I can improve and what not, I won't get better. So leave a review please.


	19. i can't continue without confirmation

first off, i would like to apologize to anyone who expected a new chapter.

now, i am stuck halfway through the chapter, and cannot continue, because of a conversation i had with a fellow member of fanfiction(dot)net. he told me that my inclusion of luffy, ichigo, and rogue was a horrible idea, and it ruined the whole story. now i can't stop thinking about if everyone reading feels the same way, and am unable to make progress in the chapter. so, this is for everyone who has read this whole story: can you please use the poll i have put up on my page to tell me what you thought of those particular characters? i am seriously unable to continue without knowing what everyone thinks of the inclusion of those characters.

and on a side note, 'Darklion25', i was upset that you didn't read the two flash back chapters, and since you haven't replied to my pm's, i will use this to talk to you. kurenai isn't a "whiny fangirl who became a real kunoichi because of a traumatic experience." she had a crush on riku, yes she did, but she was reserved about it like hinata. she was a completely serious kunoichi after that first flash back, and she only acted how she did cause she was like, 11. and this flash back wasn't even really about kurenai. it was about anko. yes, it was from kurenai's perspective mostly, but anko was the highlight of those chapters, especially since they explained her entire psychological malfunction. very, very important to understanding anko as a character, and if you skip it even after reading this... well, i can't really do anything, but know that i won't consider you a fan anymore. i never rebuke someone's fan-ship, but skipping those chapter's is an appalling offence.


	20. 17 Scattered Clues

I have found a new confidence in my stories! I implore everyone to check out my page, the dislike section. So, yeah, everyone who left a comment, everyone who sent me a message, everyone who said good things, and everyone who said honest not good things, thank you. You were the reason I finished this story in around 24 hours. I don't just say 'more reviews=faster chapters' for nothing. Lets say, if I get more reviews than I normally get for a chapter, if I got 15 in two days, the chapter would be done on the third. I'm serious. New chapter serious. I literally had up until Naruto makes it to the training ground when I posted that poll a day ago. And, I lost several pages of work when my computer shut itself down for updates. The part where Naruto is trying to comfort Hinata, up until the end of that scene, was lost. I had more on it, and it felt more natural, but I couldn't rewrite it good. Sorry.

* * *

"What? Riku killed them!" Naruto shouted, gripping the sides of his chair with clenched hands.

"Yes, he did. We haven't been able to catch him since, either. You know, he's why I read those." Kurenai said, pointing over to the bookshelf with all the books.

He turned to look where she pointed. "The love-triangle porn books?" Naruto asked calmly, as if he asked where they kept the paper towels. He knew what they were because he had spent the other day reading through everything on that shelf, except for most of the psychology books. Those were a little too complicated. It was difficult to get books, but he tried to read everything he could get his hands on (he's ignorant, not stupid. He hasn't been taught, that doesn't mean he doesn't like to read).

"No, not the por-… 'romance' novels! …W-well… no, no I was referring to the psychology books!" she said, stuttering as she realized he hit the nail on the head with the first guess.

She had actually never thought about it before now, but that was probably why. Before now, she assumed she just liked 'romance' novels and just happened to be drawn to that particular type of 'romance'.

"Oh." was his simple reply as his eyes clicked over to the 'big books' section.

"Yeah, I decided after that incident that I wouldn't allow something like Riku happen again. I try and make sure I at least know the mental state of people around me." she explained, and Naruto nodded seriously.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you, but I didn't want to interrupt the story, but what could Gouzen do? He did that thing when he touched Riku teme, and then Fukuda-sensei said something about checking chakra after you found Anko-sensei." Naruto asked and Kurenai nodded.

"He was born highly sensitive to chakra. He could feel the chakra from nature; grass, trees, moss, flowers, all of that. He also taught himself how to pass his own chakra through objects and people; when he caught Riku that day, it was almost like he used his chakra to make Riku a puppet for a few seconds. And in Orochimaru's base, that's why he found that the natural chakra of the area had been disturbed so easily."

"So, how did you and Gouzen start dating?" Naruto asked, causing a slight blush creep up Kurenai's cheeks. She looked to the clock hanging on the wall for a moment, then back to him.

"Oh my goodness, I've kept you up pretty late, haven't I? You really need your sleep, we've got training tomorrow." After that, she got up, and shuffled him out of his chair and into his room.

She pushed him towards his bed, and he turned around just in time to see her shut the door. "Goodnight, Naruto!" she said through the door, and he could hear her walk down the hall.

"… Wait, what? Did she just… Man, that's so unfair."

* * *

Kurenai walked into her room, and sighed as she saw Anko sitting in her bed, looking up to her as she opened the door. Anko was wearing an oversized red and black t-shirt that came down to her knees. Her childish pajamas. "Anko... You heard?" she asked, and Anko nodded.

"Yeah. Wondering why you two were up so long, so I went down to check it out." Anko said softly, and stared at Kurenai with puppy dog eyes for several seconds until Kurenai sighed.

"Fine. Scoot over." She said, flipping the light switch off.

She couldn't see her sister's face, but she could feel that she was grinning happily as she shuffled over to the side of the bed. Kurenai removed the ninja clothing she was wearing, and put on her nightgown.

It was one of those thin dress nightgown things. It was a silky looking solid white, with red frills spiraling down from her neck to the end of the dress, and black frills spiraling down from the opposite direction so that they formed several black and red X's on their way to the bottom.

Kurenai lifted up the covers, and made her way in the bed. Anko latched onto her after she settled, nuzzling her head under Kurenai's chin and snorted contently. After a few moments, Kurenai felt something slither along her neck, stomach, legs, and arms.

She brought her left arm underneath Anko, and rubbed her back soothingly.

After a few minutes, Kurenai spoke. "…Anko… you know Riku won't come back, right?" she asked, and Anko squeezed her a little tighter.

"There's no need to protect the bed with snakes every time we sleep together." Anko shook her head slowly. That was her only reply.

* * *

Naruto woke up the next morning like he had any other. Nothing unordinary happened as he took a shower, or got dressed. Naruto made cereal that morning like he would any other, and he headed out to training ground 12, like he would regularly, not talking to anyone in the house as they had to get up an hour earlier than him. He met no one he knew on his way to the training area, unless you count the faint familiar smell of the woman he met last night. The only remarkable thing about that morning, was that Sakura wasn't there.

He saw Anko standing in the middle of the grounds looking upset about something, and Hinata sitting on a log, looking around curiously.

"Hey Anko-sensei! Hinata-chan! Where's Sakura-chan?" he asked, examining the training area one more time incase he missed her anywhere.

"Naruto… nothings wrong. She's just out sick today." Anko told him, strangely not making eye contact with him.

Hinata looked to Anko, then to Naruto worriedly. "U-um… N-Naruto-kun, Anko-sensei has been like that since I g-got here…" Hinata said while twiddling her pointer fingers, nervously looking from her fingers, to Naruto's eyes, then back again.

"No, it's fine, Kurenai-sensei said she would act a little different from now on. This is normal." Naruto explained with a small smile, then looked back to Anko.

Naruto was still a little worried; he had begun to get attached to her normal self. Well… he could do without her normal 'exiting' actions and teases, but he had come to accept her for who she was.

"So, what are we doing, Anko-sensei? Are we still training without Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, and she looked up to him curiously.

"Hm? Oh… well, just… could you train on your own for a bit? I have to go talk to the Hokage." she asked, and Naruto shrugged.

"Sure, I guess we can train by ourselves for a bit."

Anko gave a strained smile, then shunshined away. Naruto and Hinata looked to each other, then the latter blushed and looked away.

"So how have you been doing on the Kage Bunshin? Have you been able to get it yet?" Naruto asks curiously, and Hinata hung her head.

"N-no…" she whispers miserably; the only thing that she had that would bring them closer at the moment, and she couldn't do it.

"Hmm… well, show me how much you've got right now! I'll see if I can help anymore."

Hinata looked up to him, then nodded. She put her hands into the cross seal, then concentrated. 'I have to do the best I can… I can't let Naruto see me fail so miserably!' she thought to herself, then started molding her chakra.

She made an almost perfect clone. It's skin was a little paler then Hinata's, but besides that, it looked perfect… until its arm fell off. Hinata and Naruto watched in horror as the clones left arm hit the floor. The clone looked down, picked it up, then attempted to put it back on. Only, she was trying to put the hand in where the shoulder was supposed to go.

After a second of trying, it poofed out of existence. Hinata and Naruto were quiet for several long moments, just staring at where it had been, and Naruto was the first to speak up.

"Uh… you're getting better?" he tried to say reassuringly, but it came out like a question even he was entirely unsure of.

"…Uuuu…uuu…" Hinata started to cry out, tears forming in her eyes, as her knees begun to wobble and she fell to the floor.

"H-Hinata-chan! I-It's alright, you'll be able to get it!" he said, kneeling down beside her and hugging her, "You almost had that one! Just a little more, and you can get it; I know it!"

_Disgrace. Useless. Disappointment. Can't even compete with her younger sister. _'It's true… it's all true… I really can't do anything right…' Hinata berated herself as Naruto hugged her. She was so absorbed in her self-abusing thoughts that she hadn't even noticed she was being embraced by the young blond.

"It's okay Hinata-chan," he whispered softly by her ear, "It's fine, even if you are never able to do it," he started, and a soft sob came from Hinata, "you will still be awesome. You'll always be fine, you don't have to beat yourself up if you can't do something."

Hinata looked to him, into his eyes, and she could feel the sincerity in his voice and eyes. It was almost enough to make her forget she was being embraced by the blond. Her blush kicked up to full as she realized it.

Naruto stood up and offered her his hand; she took it, and her heart stopped as she rocketed to her feet, lifting off the ground a little, from Naruto's pull.

Naruto grinned at her surprised expression, and took a step back, remembering what Kurenai told him a few days ago.

* * *

Flash back

* * *

Naruto, Anko, and Kurenai were walking home after their mission for the day, Anko and Kurenai walking slightly ahead of Naruto, when Naruto broke the comfortable silence.

"Um, Kurenai?" he started, and she looked back to him, "Is there… anything wrong with Hinata-chan?"

Kurenai blinked, then maneuvered back so she was standing behind him. "What do you mean, Naruto?" she asked, and he sighed.

"Well, I just noticed that she can't… never really…" he started, but wasn't able to find the right words.

He paused for a moment, thinking for a moment, before nodding to himself and starting up again. "It's almost like she expects to do bad, and then when she does good, she doesn't really believe it."

Kurenai smiled; she felt proud of her student right now. "When did you notice she acted like that?" she asked, wondering just how perceptive he was of his teammates and precious people.

"Well… I noticed it back in the academy. She acted different from other kids; when she was complimented by teachers and other kids, it was like she heard what they said but she wasn't listening, you know? But I didn't realize what it was back then. I just figured that's how she was. I understood exactly what it was when we went to wave, and I tried to teach her the Kage Bunshin."

'That was… by our second mission he figured out what was wrong. I guess he is a lot more sensitive to emotional distress than he is to more… romantic distress.' Kurenai thought to herself, and was unable to keep a small smile from appearing on her face.

"Yes, Hinata has problems with compliments. So do many Hyuuga. Members of the Hyuuga family aren't the most emotional bunch you'll ever meet; they don't compliment their children or each other when they accomplish something; some more than others, but for the most part, the best they would get is an "adequate" for success."

Naruto looked mortified as she explained that to him. 'Ho-how are they family if they don't even do that! I got compliments from Iruka-sensei, Ayame-nee-chan, Teuchi-oji-san, and jiji (third Hokage) all my life, and they aren't even family!' Naruto's thoughts raged, so much so that he almost missed Kurenai talking to him again.

"There is a way you can help, Naruto." Kurenai said, causing the blond to give her his undivided attention. "Make sure you always tell her when she does good at something, don't go overboard though, and make sure it is always sincere. And do the same thing when she fails at something; make sure she knows it's fine even if she wasn't able to do it. Again, make sure you really mean what you say, and don't go overboard."

"Alright!"

* * *

Flash back end

* * *

Naruto nodded to himself as Hinata stabilized herself from his rocket-pull. "Hinata-chan," he started, and she turned to look at him, her blush just slightly under the max level for non-pass out mode, "Just know, even if you can't do something, remember that you'll always be my precious friend. Not sure if that matters to you…"

"I-i-it d-does!" she stuttered out through her blush, and she reached her limit. The hardest she could blush without passing out, and she desperately fought back her blackout.

Naruto grinned, and turned around, walking away to go sit on the log Hinata was previously sitting at. 'Don't go overboard, say what's to be said, then give her some room.'

Naruto sat on the log while Hinata stood over where they were talking, cooling off her blush to normal Hinata levels.

After about a minute, Naruto called to her. "Hey, Hinata-chan, you can come sit down if you want."

"U-un…" she mumbled, then made her way towards him. Her heart was beating so hard she thought it might go 'alien facehugger' on her. Each step she took towards him seemed to add another 20 pounds to her legs. Something as simple as sitting next to him became one of the most difficult things in her life.

She got about 10 feet from him, when her feet wouldn't move anymore, so she just plopped down in the grass.

Naruto tilted his head slightly as she averted her eyes from him. 'Does she not like being near me? I took a shower, right?' he asked himself, honestly unable to remember if he had.

After a moment, Naruto waved it off and started talking to Hinata. "So, Hinata, you have a family, right? Can you tell me about them?" he asked curiously.

Hinata looked up to him, then nodded her head. "F-family? Y-yeah, I have a f-father, a younger s-sister, and I had a m-mother."

"You used to have a mother? What happened?" he asked, leaning forward on the log as he asked.

"U-um… sh-she was k-killed. The night I was almost kidnapped…" she said, then looked up to Naruto as he continued to watch her.

"Um… N-Naruto-kun? Do y-you remember the night y-you saved a li-little girl from b-being kidnapped?" she asked, and his expression turned sadder as he nodded.

"T-that was… i-in the bag… it was m-me…," she said, and he nodded again.

"I know. I'm sorry, Hinata, I stole it from you." he said, and she tilted her head slighty and furrowed her brow in confusion.

"Stole? Stole what?" she asked, and he shook his head and looked down to his hands.

"Your trust, I stole it. Ino and Ami told me." he said, and she tilted her head a little further, and furrowed her brow a little more.

"I don't understand…" she said, and he looked up to her.

"It was your secret, you were gonna tell me when you trusted me, but I already knew. it's like I stole your secret from you." he explained, getting a little frustrated with her, and himself for being unable to properly convey the message.

"Naruto-kun… I-it's fine, I-I'm not upset a-about that." she told him, and he sighed, his face lightening slightly.

"I still don't feel right, so I'll have to repay you for it… hey, Hinata-chan, you're the oldest daughter of a noble family right?" he asked, and she nodded, a little confused where he was going with this.

"So… that makes you like a princess, right? Should I call you Hinata-hime from now on?"

The grass rustled slightly as Hinata fell backwards, passed out. One-hit KO. Naruto sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Man, I don't think I could deal with being sick all of the time like Hinata-hime."

Even in her passed out state, she blushed harder when he said 'Hinata-hime' again.

* * *

Kurenai was standing in the middle of training ground 3, watching and guiding the progress of her new students.

"HAH! Ah guess we know who's the best now, don't we? Lookit this here!" Rogue boasted as she was using her chakra to move a rock around, while the other two where still stuck with a leaf.

"Rogue, it isn't nice—" she started, but was interrupted by Ichigo.

"HEY! That's not fair, you're cheating! You already know all these lessons from stealing memories, you just don't remember them!" Ichigo shouted, glaring at Rogue as he tried feebly to move a leaf with his chakra.

Kurenai's left eyebrow twitched for a moment, then she coughed into her hand. "Ichigo, you shouldn't just—" but she was cut off again.

"GUYS! Watch this!" Luffy shouted, causing the other two teens and Kurenai to turn towards him; he was staring intensely at a leaf floating in mid air, and he was wiggling his fingers beside it as if he was doing it with his mind.

"Luffy, can you take—" Kurenai started, and she was interrupted for the third, and final time.

"LUFFY! Quit messin' around, we're doin' serious training!" she shouted while glaring at her him.

Kurenai flashed through several seals, and the three teens froze, pure horror on their face. "Now children," she said, and all three turned to look at her, "It is very, very rude to interrupt someone who is trying to talk. The amount of frustration I feel when someone does it is indescribable, just like the horrors you just saw for interrupting me were indescribably terrible."

All three teens gave her hurried nods.

"Now Rogue, you shouldn't brag because you can do something someone else can't. that leads to overconfidence. Overconfidence leads to underestimation. Underestimation leads to a quick end for a ninja. And Ichigo, you shouldn't get upset because someone uses something they were born with to their advantage. People with Kekki Genkai often overestimate their birth-rites, and their skills become lopsided. They concentrate too much on their above average skill in one area instead of strengthening their weaknesses. That's why normal ninja tend to live a little longer, they aren't especially strong in any specific area, but they strengthen their weaknesses as well as improve their strengths. And Luffy… please take this more seriously."

Each of the teens nodded when Kurenai was finished lecturing each of them.

"Okay, let's get back to work. The three of you need a lot of work."

The three teens looked to her with new found admiration/fear for a moment, and then got back to training.

* * *

A long black-haired girl was organizing items in a convenience store. She was almost done, only a few items left; Pickles, milk, peanut butter, and peaches. 'There, that's the last of it' the girl thought as she stood up and headed to the front of the store.

"Ah, did you finish?" the elderly woman called as she saw the girl approaching, "I tell you, you're just the sweetest boy, but you look so much like a girl, Haku-kun!"

Haku smiled, and nodded, looking around the store, then approaching the elderly woman. "That's because I am a girl," she whispered, "please don't tell anyone; I pretend I'm a boy so I don't have to hurt any man who wants to try something."

The woman's wrinkled face widened in surprise, then she nodded her understanding. "Well, at 13 you might be able to pull it off," the woman said, then poked her chest, "but you won't be able to hide your chest much longer. I can tell already, you'll be a big one."

Haku blushed, and put her hand over her chest protectively. "Koru-san! Don't do that! You have no sense of etiquette." Haku said, and the old woman cackled.

"Child, don't you know? When you hit a certain age, you don't have to have etiquette anymore!" the woman joked, and Haku smiled.

"I'll come back tomorrow to help out again, okay?" she told the chuckling old woman, who nodded her acknowledgement.

Haku walked out of the store with a smile on her face as she looked up and down the busy street. She suddenly shot her hand up with a senbon in-between her fingers, only to be caught by the ANBU member the senbon was aimed at.

"Momochi Haku, I will overlook that attack, as I understand you were trained to do just that when you were always on alert outside of a village," the eagle faced ANBU member spoke calmly, lowering her hand to her side, "but try not to do that in the village. If anyone is injured, you will be punished for it. There is no need to be that alert in this village."

Haku stared at him for a moment, then nodded and put the senbon away.

"I have been sent to escort you to the Hokage."

She nodded, and he put his hand on her shoulder, then shunshined to the Hokage tower.

They arrived in the Hokage tower shortly after, and made their way up to the Hokage's office, then entered.

"Ah, Haku, there you are," the Hokage said from behind his desk, "Come in, come in."

Haku walked in wearily, looking back to the ANBU a few times before she focused on the Hokage.

"Well, I would like to offer you a job as a ninja of Konoha. you are at least chunin level, and we could really use someone with your potential."

Haku looked back to the ANBU again, and the Hokage shooed him away. "It's alright, Eagle, you can leave."

Eagle nodded, then left through the door he came in.

"Can I refuse?" Haku asked, looking back to the Hokage.

"Refuse? Well, yes, you can. But why?" he asked, stroking his beard as he continued, "You are an excellent kunoichi, you have already been trained, I don't understand why you wouldn't want to be one."

Haku shook her head slightly. "No, I don't want to kill anyone anymore. I'd rather just live a normal life."

Hokage chuckled, "No, no, heavens no, you wouldn't have to kill anyone! We don't get many of those types of missions, and when we do, only jonin and ANBU level ninja's take them. And even then, as a ninja, you have the choice to forbid killing from your mission intake. Some people can't do it, some are hemophobic, some have religions against it. You won't have to kill anyone for as long as you don't want to."

Haku nodded, then looked down to the floor in thought. She took several seconds to answer. "Okay, but if I do, can you give me information on Zabuza-sama? I haven't heard anything, and I would like to know how he's doing."

The Hokage nodded. "Sure. He's doing fine, and we have a few more tests, but so far, he appears fine; the only time he appears to get hostile is when a mission requires it, or if it involves you." he explained, grabbing a form from the side of the table.

"You need to take a small test to assess your skills, and you will be given the rank that matches your skill level. This is done for all ninja's we take in." he explained as Haku took the form.

She nodded, "Okay, I'm ready to do it, just tell me when and where."

* * *

Anko made it to the Hokage tower, and climbed the stairs up to the Hokage's floor. She made it, and moved towards his room. She saw Haku come out of the room, and ignored the younger girls greeting, barging into the room the teen just exited while completely ignoring the assistant woman who told her she needed an appointment.

"Old man. Why is one of my students missing, and why do I have to lie about it?"

"I told you," the Hokage said from his chair, "not even a week ago, not to expect any favors. That means you don't get to just barge into my office and demand things from me."

"Hokage-sama," she stated again calmly, "What, the FUCK, happened to my STUDENT!" she shouted, and a split second later she was held down by three ANBU members. She was on her belly with one man holding her arms behind her back, one woman holding her legs, and another man holding her head to the floor.

"WHERE IS SHE!" Anko shouted from the floor, and black marks highlighted in red started to creep up her face.

"Anko, if you calm down, I can tell you somewhere where you aren't locked up. Calm. Down."

"NO! WHAT HAPPENED TO—" she yelled, and the ninja holding her head used a needle to inject her neck with something; her eyes fluttered for a moment, and she tried to shout something, but it was unintelligible, and then she passed out. The black markings on her face pulsed a few times, then receded back into the mark on her neck.

The Hokage massaged the bridge of his nose for a moment, and the sighed. He looked down to Anko. "Cuff her, and put her in a cell under the tower. Let me know when she wakes up."

The female ANBU, one wearing a dog mask, picked up Anko and carried her to the holding rooms down underneath the tower.

Underneath the tower were several cells, all but one empty. After the ANBU put Anko in an empty cell, she moved back and leaned against a wall; the drug Anko was given was insanely strong, but it didn't last very long. Something about the drug caused it to die quickly if it spread too thin. It keeps her knocked out while it is concentrated, but after it starts too spread through her body, it'll lose effectiveness slowly until she wakes up.

"Hey, woman," am angry and rough voiced called to the ANBU, "can I ask you something?"

Dog looked to the man up against the bars of his cell, staring at her. "You can, but you aren't guaranteed an answer."

"Fair enough," the man said, nodding slightly, "well, can you tell me how Haku is doing?" Zabuza asked, staring at the ANBU with eyes she wouldn't have expected Momochi Zabuza to ever have.

"… She's doing fine; she is going to become a Konoha ninja today."

Zabuza's eyes hardened. "She WHAT? What did you threaten her with?" Zabuza shouted through the bars.

Dog smiled behind her mask. "You care deeply for her, you really do." she said, and she could see his left eye twitch. "Don't worry, we didn't threaten her. She agreed to become a ninja under the condition that she not be forced to kill anyone, and she would get updates on your progress and condition."

"Tch… That stupid little… I brought her here so she could be safe! Not so she could fucking… dammit, I should've just freaking left her where I found her! She's been nothing but a… I can't believe she would…" Zabuza ranted, unable to complete a sentence from start to finish.

The woman chuckled, and Zabuza's left eye started twitching. 'She does not even realize how lucky she is these bars are in my way…'

* * *

Danzo was sitting in a dark room, talking with a root member.

"So what do you have for me?" Danzo asked calmly, and the man handed him a document.

Danzo read it, then looked up to him. "Yes, sir. As for the Kyuubi, everything is set. We just need 'it' to discover what happened. And as for that woman, she has been causing a ruckus in the prison."

Danzo raised an eyebrow. "Ruckus?" he asked, and the root member bowed slightly.

"Yes, sir, a ruckus. She is telling the guards she has information about the riots several days ago, and she will tell them everything if they give her an audience with the Hokage. We have been able to bribe the guards who heard her, but we are unsure if we will be able to keep her quiet forever."

Danzo was quiet for a long moment, staring at the document in front of him.

"We are unable to kill her, as she is being kept under watch by the Hokage, and even if we are able to bypass that, there is the fact that the whole prison is a chakra dampener. We would be unable to kill her without several people, and even then, it would be near impossible for us to do it, and get out of there without being seen. She is skilled in hand-to-hand combat, it would not be a quick kill, and 'Hokage-sama's' guards switch off every half hour."

Danzo nodded, then looked up to the man. "Bribe the other inmates. Give them shorter sentences if they kill her."

"Sir, there are few in the prison with enough skill to even fight her. Even all together, we aren't sure if they could beat her before guards broke it up."

"Uncertainty isn't impossibility. Do it."

"Yes, Danzo-sama."

* * *

Ino was sitting underneath a tree, reading a little pink book. This wasn't the same book she was reading before, but it was the same… genre.

She had already amassed a small collection of books of this genre; not anything to compete with any older readers such as Kurenai, Kakashi, the Hokage, Iruka, Ibisu, and Ayame. Of course, those aren't the only ones with 'above average' collections of such books, but those are the only ones that you, as a reader, know.

She was in the middle of Negima, the main character, meeting up with his secret love mistress, Kouyuki, when a loud, irritating, uncalled for, despicable, unreserved shout came from the filthy, feral, unsavory, eyesore form of her teammate, Kiba.

"Hey Ino! What'cha readin'!" he shouted, and Ino glared daggers at him.

"What do you want?" she said, spitting the word 'you' out like a piece of gum that lost it's flavor a long time ago and now tasted like a tire. She had a slightly blushing face, and a majorly pissed off look on it.

"Woah, woah, relax!" Kiba said, backing up a bit while Akamaru whined in his hood, "Just wanted to see what you were reading while we wait for Kakashi-sensei."

"… Go talk to Shino, he's more chatty than I am anyway." she said sarcastically, and Kiba laughed.

"Hahahaha! I get it, you made a joke!" he said through his laugh, and Ino's eyebrow twitched.

"Yeah, it was hilarious. Go share it with Shino."

"Seriously, Ino, what is it that you're always reading?" he asked, crouching down in front of her to read the title.

She closed the book, and hid the title from him. "It's a book about how to make Chihuahua stew. I'll start with your dog after I learn about all the spices to add."

Kiba stared at her blankly for a moment as he processed what she said. "WHAT?" he shouted when he understood what she was plotting, "You aren't cooking anything! And how dare you insult Akamaru by calling him a Chihuahua!"

"Oh, I know, I'm such a bad person, we aren't friends anymore," Ino said sarcastically, then turned serious and glared at him, "so go away."

"Fine! I can take a… hint…" Kiba started, but slowed as he smelled something.

He leaned closer to her and sniffed.

"Kiba, remember how I told not to sniff me again or I'd break your nose?" she said innocently, and Kiba backed up.

"So your Naruto's mate too? Man, why do the idiots get all the luck?" he said, and Akamaru seemed to be the only one to realize Kiba was in mortal danger.

"Could you run that by me… one more time? I'm 'who's what' too?" she said dangerously, and Kiba nodded.

"Yeah, you have Naruto's smell on you, like that girl did. Remember the one who could barely talk? Yeah, she had it on her too. Only hers was a lot stronger. I would've thought it was Naruto in disguise if she didn't speak. My mom told me when I asked her yesterday that if a girl smells like a guy, then that means she's his mate."

She stared at him for a long time before responding. Kiba almost thought she didn't hear, and would've repeated himself if she didn't say something.

"First off, Kiba, I'm not anyone's 'mate'. And if I DID have a… 'mate'… Naruto would be way back on the list. Only ahead of you, and Shino… and maybe Chouji… and Shikamaru too… and definitely Lee…" she listed off names, until she only had Sasuke and Neji left. She then seemed to actually be thinking about the last two before Kiba broke in.

"Then, how do you explain how you have his smell on you? That doesn't happen unless two people mate."

"Well, why are you only noticing this now? I haven't even been in contact with Naruto since his resurrection. Shouldn't you have noticed I smelled like Naruto by now?"

"No, I already noticed, I just forgot about it. I noticed it the day of our first mission. It was the same day Naruto went all berserk, and we went to court. It was actually barely noticeable then too, so I just thought it was because you went to hang out hang out with him the day before."

"Hello guys," their sensei called as he appeared in the training ground, "sorry I'm late."

Kiba and Ino looked to him, and waited.

Ino spoke up. "What, no stupid excuse about getting lost on the road to life, or helping an old lady carry her groceries, or saving a child from enemy ninja, or anything?" she asked sarcastically.

"Naw. I spent an hour trying to think up something new and exciting, but I couldn't; and that's why I'm late."

* * *

Naruto, along with Hinata, was heading to Sakura's house. After Hinata woke up, they left a note under a rock telling Anko they went to check on Sakura.

They came up on Sakura's house, and Naruto knocked on the door. It opened to reveal Sakura's father.

"Yes, Naruto?" he asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, we came to see if Sakura-chan's alright." Naruto explained, gesturing to Hinata, and the man scratched at the back of his head.

"Uh, well… she's sick right now, could you come back after she's feeling better?" he asked, and Naruto tilted his head.

\

"Oh? We can't even see her for a little bit?" he asked, and the man shook his head.

"N-no, she's terribly sick. It's contagious, too."

"Oh, well then we'll…" Naruto stopped, then looked up towards where her room was.

"Um… Naruto?" Sakura's father asked, looking back to where he was looking.

"Where's Sakura-chan." Naruto asked darkly, causing a chill to run down the man's spine.

"Wha-what? Sh-she's in her room!" he said, and Naruto shook his head.

"I can't smell her. Hinata-chan, could you check her room with your byakugan?" he said, turning back to Hinata.

She nodded seriously, and activated her dojutsu. After a moment of silence, she spoke. "Y-you're right… she's not there!" Hinata said in disbelief.

Naruto turned back to the man, who was sweating buckets, and spoke softly. "Where is Sakura-chan."

"Uhg… I'm sorry, she disappeared last night! The Hokage told us not to tell anyone what happened!" he blurted out, bowing slightly to Naruto.

Naruto's eyes were burning holes into the man, when a voice drew his attention behind him.

"What's wrong, dobe? Can't keep track of your women?"

Author's box

* * *

*Maniacal Cackle*...*Maniacal Cackle part 2*... well, I don't really know what to say now... I have no idea how to 'end comment' down here after that... hmm... well, i'll just skip the banter and go right towards the me, begging you for reviews! … actuall, I don't really want reviews this chapter... no, i'm serious. I'm being all mature now so... you know, go and, uh... who am I kidding, REVIEW! Review like you'll earn my gratitude if you do! Which you will! And also, people seem concerned that Rogue and co. don't have enough to make them special. Like, background stories and stuff. Don't worry, I have some spaztasically awesome arcs set aside for each of them. I can't start any of them until after the 'Sakura's Missing' arc finishes. It'll only last one more chapter, maybe into the one after too, but it won't take up more than one whole chapter. Hmm.. maybe I should give a teaser... well, if I was to name this new arc, it would be something along the lines of 'Dark Rogue', or maybe 'Fracture', or maybe even 'A Rogue Ally.' I like that last one.


	21. 18 Momentum

well, i apologize for the tardy and (very) short update, but i had a reasonable reason! ya see, i was taking this new medicine, sertraline i think, for depression or something, and they literally killed the author in me. for the past week and a half, i have been able to type two sentences. it also killed the need to read other stories as well. just couldn't do it. i've been off the medicine for a few days, and i'm starting to be able to write and stuff again, but i can't continue this chapter. the chapter was a difficult one to begin with, i could tell before i even started typing, but after the medicine incident it became impossible. i have been able to write a decent amount on another story i'm writing, but that doesn't help "Team Naruto" fans, now does it? i should finish up the other one in a day or two so keep a look out. i'm calling it "Strongest Love" for now, but that's kind of corny, so i hope to think up a better one before i finish. basically, it's a future story, when everyone's around 24 or 25, and naruto's married to sakura. thing is, they don't have a... loving marriage? anyway, she often cheats on him with sasuke, and everyone knows it. he has two children, and a third on the way, none of them by him. oh, and he knows it as well. i'll give you a little snippit at the end; least i could do to apologize for the short chapter.

* * *

Naruto felt his blood raging through his veins; if someone called him furious, it would have been a severe understatement.

"Sasuke," he started in a dark tone as he turned to face the source of the voice, "what have you done with Sakura?"

Sasuke smirked, and walked towards Naruto. "Which one's Sakura?" he asked with a confused expression, then his face widened with realization, "Oh, that's right; the pink headed whore, right?"

Sasuke's skull bounced on the road only an instant after Naruto's fist connected with his temple. He chuckled once from the ground, and again as he got up. "There it is! The first hit! Now everything I do will be considered self-defense!" he said, smirking again, and raising his arms in front of him so his forearms were vertical, the elbows pointing down and his hands pointing up. A blue symbol glowed on his arms and legs, the kanji for "power," and then a fifth symbol on his forehead, the kanji for "control."

"Where is—" Naruto was able to finish before he was sent flying by a kick to the chin. Naruto made an arc as he flew threw the air, landing hard on the dirt road 30 feet away. Sasuke laughed insanely as he saw the blond crash into the ground, then started towards him.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted, rushing over to Sasuke with her byakugan flaring and her palms cocked back, radiating a blueish hue.

"Hinata!" Naruto shouted harshly, and she flinched back, about 10 feet from the grinning Uchiha, at the tone Naruto used with her as well as the loss of her 'chan.' "Stay back. I'm sorry Hinata-chan," he started in a softer tone, pushing himself up off the floor, "but I don't want you to get hurt in my fight."

Hinata stared intensely at Sasuke, but backed off. Sasuke kissed at her, and she felt her stomach curl when he did.

"Sasuke," Naruto started, pulling out a kunai from his ninja pouch, "what did you do with Sakura!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about, dobe," Sasuke answered through a cocky smirk, watching Naruto while cracking his knuckles one by one.

Naruto clenched his teeth, and gripped the kunai so hard it was difficult to believe it didn't snap at the handle. Sasuke chuckled, causing Naruto to lose himself to a blind rage. Charging straight at Sasuke like a mad bull, Naruto didn't even notice Sasuke had started moving until a fist slammed painfully into his chest.

Naruto flew backwards 20 feet until he hit someone's house, crashing into its wall with enough power to punch through to the other side, but not powerful enough to send him all the way through. Naruto's feet could be seen dangling out of the destroyed wall, and screams of surprise could be heard from the house with the new 'window.'

"Come on, dobe, you were harder to beat in the academy!" Sasuke shouted, and smiled as he saw Naruto get back up. The genin with the red tinted blond hair pulled himself from the house, landing quietly in the houses yard as his features seemed to get more feral. The birthmarks on his cheek seemed to get wider, his face seemed to give off the feeling of a wild fox about to pounce, and his movements changed to accent the 'wild fox' feeling. The air around him changed as well; it almost looked red, and he was pumping out more killing intent than water from a broken fire hydrant.

Sasuke grinned. "You ready to get serious?" he asked, dusting his hands off on his pants before taking up his Uchiha clan fighting stance.

* * *

The Hokage was staring slack jawed at a piece of paper on the table in front of him. 'This is the best thing that has ever happened to me since I discovered 'romance' novels… oh yeah, and my wife.'

"Hokage-sama, when do we set up an appointment? She is stuck there, but someone with enough power to start those riots might try something." the eagle masked ANBU explained to the speechless Hokage.

"How… where did this information come from?" Hokage was able to ask, looking up to his most trusted ANBU.

"One of the guards from the prison told us. He explained that two days ago, a woman started talking about a government cover-up she was a part of; that she had information about the riots that occurred a week ago. He said that he initially paid her no mind, just another prisoner trying to lie her way out of some prison time, but he was approached last night."

"Approached?" the Hokage blurted out, leaning forward and gaping up into the eagle mask of the top ANBU of his personal guard.

"Yes Hokage-sama. He explained how a man in dark clothes with, whose face he was unable to see, offered him 1 million Ryou to keep quiet about the woman at the prison. He took the money, fearful that if he didn't he might've been killed, but he brought the money to us, along with the case it was given in: the case doesn't have anything that we can use to track down where it came from. It seems it was just a case bought at an ordinary merchant stand or shop to avoid possible identification."

"…Where is this man now? What's his name?" the Hokage asked calmly, standing up from his chair.

"He is waiting in the hall with just outside this room, and his name is Abarai Touji."

He nodded, then walked around the desk and headed towards the door. After exiting the room, he saw a man sitting in the waiting room look up to him. The man stood up and bowed, "Hokage-sama!" he said in an elevated tone of voice; not enough to disturb anyone from their business, but enough to show the amount of respect he had for the Hokage.

"Yes, Touji, thank you for what you have done today," he said, clasping the man's shoulder, "You have helped to catch a criminal that has eluded me for too long. This deed will not be forgotten, and if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to come see me."

His words left the man speechless, but before the man could get around to remembering he knew the English language, (I know it's actually Japanese, but I'm typing in English, so that's what they speak) the Hokage addressed him again.

"Touji, mind if I ask you something? Why did you turn the money in? I understand that you have a wife who is unable to work, and that life must be difficult supporting two on a guard's income, even with all of the overtime you receive."

Touji's face widened happily, but he seemed sad. "Yes, sir, it would have helped immensely, but I promised my son I would always fight the bad guys. This person was definitely a bad guy."

"Your son?" the Hokage repeated, looking down to the sheet of paper with Touji's information.

It read, "Family: Mother, Anuki, deceased. Father, Zuko. Wife, Jade. Son, Bato, deceased."

Touji smiled. "His birthday is coming up soon, 4 days from now. There was no way I could ever even entertain the idea of taking this mans money so close."

The old Hokage stepped towards the man and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I understand. If you would like any company when you visit him, I would be glad to go with you." he told the man gently, "I know the pain of losing a son as well." 'Minato's birthday is 2 months away… seems like only a few weeks ago was the last visit.'

An ANBU appeared and addressed the Hokage.

"Sir, Anko has woken up."

"Ah, thank you Dog. I'm sorry Touji; there are important matters that need my attention. If you decide to take me up on my offer, let me know."

Touji bowed, a tear falling from his face to the floor as he did, "N-no problem, Hokage-sama! Thank you for talking with me!"

The dog-faced ANBU led the Hokage and Eagle down to the lower levels of the tower. It was a place kept under heavy lock and key for important criminals that could not be allowed any chance at escape; not that the prison was just a place where if prisoners got bored they could stroll out of, but this place was guarded by ANBU and their strongest seals.

The Hokage eventually made it to the bottom of the tower, and to the room Anko was being held in; the room was dark, and from the stairs the Hokage and his two ANBU stood, there were cells lined along the left side of the room. The cells just had basic necessities: a thin bed in the left corner of the cell, with a blanket and pillow. They also had toilets on the right side of the room, with a sink next to it. The rest of the room was pretty empty, only a few chairs and a two crates on the far right end of the room.

Anko was in the cell the furthest to the left. The Hokage and Eagle headed towards her, with Dog going back up the stairs. Passing by the empty cells, they saw the only one besides Anko's that was occupied. Zabuza was sitting on the bed, leaning against the wall and watching them cautiously as they passed.

They made it to the last cell in the row, and saw Anko standing directly behind the bars, waiting for the Hokage's arrival, with her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Anko, can we talk civilly this time?" he asked, and she nodded slowly.

"Who has Sakura," she said quietly, not changing her posture, not moving her eyes from his, and barely moving her lips.

"We don't know," The Hokage answered in a slightly louder tone, "now do you want to tell me why you got so upset? Do you know anything?"

"No, I don't know anything. That's _why_ I am upset. Can you tell me why I couldn't tell Naruto what happened?" she responded, ending with a question of her own.

The Hokage nodded. "I have an answer for that one. Naruto can't know, because of this: what do you think will happen once he finds out that Sakura is missing? He could hurt someone, and I'm not sure if he could win another trial. The last one was too close, and now another one three weeks later? He can't know for his own safety," he explained, then ended in a softer tone, "We will find Sakura before he finds out what happened."

"Sir," the dog-masked ANBU called from the stairway, "Kurenai is here."

"Good, send her down," the Hokage responded promptly. A few seconds later, Kurenai came down the stairs looking around curiously.

"Hokage-sama, where is she?" Kurenai asked, and he gestured to the cell he was standing before. She made her way over to them, and looked into the cell to see a sour looking Anko, looking away from her sister. "Anko, what were you thinking? They told me you became aggressive towards the Hokage in his office."

"Sakura's missing," Anko explained, looking to Kurenai as she spoke, "she's gone, he won't tell me what happened, and I can't even tell Naruto that she's gone."

"Hu…" Kurenai blurted out in surprise, then looked to the Hokage.

"Yes, she is missing, but Naruto can't know because he might do something irrational. And with his last incident being only three weeks ago…" he said, leaving the last bit unsaid. It didn't need to be said, though, Kurenai understood.

"Anko," Kurenai started, addressing her sister again, "I can understand why you would be upset, but you went overboard. Why were you so…" she questioned, but stopped and blinked a few times when realization dawned on her. "Anko, is this about last night's talk with Naruto?" she asked, and Anko flinched slightly, looking away from her to a spot on the wall.

"What?" the Hokage asked, looking back and forth between the girls, "What happened last night?"

Kurenai turned from her sister, and started using sign language. "I'm talking like this so Anko doesn't get upset at hearing it again. I told Naruto about Riku last night, and Anko heard. I think she might be worried that Riku took her. I know it's not really a rational fear, but that's probably why she's like this."

Hokage sighed, and massaged his chin in thought for several moments. "…Okay, Anko. Can you promise to behave? We need to work together, calmly, to find Sakura."

Anko nodded, dropping her hands to her side and looking to him as he finished. The Hokage gave a short nod towards Eagle, who then unlocked the cell door. Anko walked out of the cell and sighed. "We really have no idea who took her?" she asked, and the Hokage chuckled. It wasn't a happy chuckle, not one for good times, not one with any mirth.

"… no, Anko, I am not hiding anything from you. This pains me almost as much as it does you; my grandson was finally getting people to trust, to believe in, and to love, and then this happens. We have been searching everywhere for some clue, someone who could have seen her, but we have found nothing."

"What about her parents?" Kurenai offered, "Do they have no idea how she left? They must've seen or heard something."

"That's just it. They say that they completely forgot about last night. They don't remember anything from the moment after she got home. They have no idea when she could've left, or if she might've gone with anyone in particular. We have people questioning Sakura's friends, and Inoichi is trying to find out what happened from them right now."

"Trying? Can't he just—" she started to ask, when Dog came down the stairs again.

"Hokage-sama! Naruto's in the hospital!" she called out. Anko was the first to move, with Kurenai and the Hokage only a second behind her, with Eagle following the Hokage.

Author's box

* * *

... well, there's not much to comment on, now is there? anyway, i won't ask for reviews because of the low quality of this update, but any review given will help to boost me back up to my old self.

* * *

A few minutes later, my kids enter the room. "Stop it, Yani!" Fugaku whines, pulling away from his sister.

"Quit acting like a baby, Gaku, your shirts on backwards! Let me fix it!" Sayani yells, chasing him into the kitchen. He runs from her, and trips over his own feet. I spin towards him, and catch him by the back of his shirt before he hits the floor.

"Fugaku, Sayani, stop fooling around before you get hurt. Breakfast will be ready in a minute, okay?" I tell them while kneeling down, and they look at me strangely for a moment.

"Daddy, are you okay? You're crying…" Sayani points out, and traces the path of my unnoticed tears with her fingers.

I blink, pushing more of my tears down my face, and stand up. "Huh? Oh, no, daddy's fine, I just…" I start to try to ease their worries, but I can't lie about this one. I can't, not about this particular problem of mine, not on this particular day, so I opt for silence. I turn back to the stove, and turn the burners off. I gather three plates and three cups. I fill the plates with eggs and a few strips of bacon each, and I fill the glasses halfway with orange juice. I turn back around, and they are still standing there, watching me.

"Daddy…" Sayani starts, and they both rush forward and hug my leg. A strangled sob manages to escape my throat, and the tears seem to think my face is the most wonderful place to be at the moment. The face that is unable to keep my mask up. The mask that crumbles under the weight of the pain. I kneel down and hug my children. No matter what happens, I will never consider them anything other than my children, and that is exactly how I will treat the next member of this family, 5 months from now.

I realize I am scaring them as they start to cry too, so I stop the tears. Or I try to, but it was like trying to beat gravity; the harder I tried, the harder they came down. They hug my neck, crying into my shoulder, and I rub their backs. I want to sing to them, but I don't trust my voice at the moment, so I just hum it instead. "Lost Mother's lullaby" is what she called it when she sang it to me, my mother. I didn't know who she was at first, but whenever life got hard, and things seemed hopeless as a child, she would show up and sing it to me, the "Red-haired woman" as I called her before I learned who she was.

I hummed the lullaby I knew by heart, and the lullaby they knew by heart, as I sang it to them every night to put them to sleep. After a few seconds, they started to hum it along with me, as if to sooth my pain as well. We lulled each other for who knows how long, and then I pulled back. Sayani wiped the tears off the left side of my face, and Fugaku wiped them off my right. I smiled, and swept the tears off of both their faces with the back of both of my index fingers. I cleared my throat, and stood up. "Thank you." I whisper, and they both nod.


	22. 19 Shift

You know what I just realized? I have been forgetting to record the 'Awesome Chronicles of Zidiane' for you guys. And with that realization, you know what else I realized? No one else seemed to even care they were gone… that's cold… are they that bad? Am I just like a mother who thinks their son can sing when he really can't? Oh well. I don't really have the feel of where I was going with them, and I don't really feel like taking all of two minutes to get it back, so unless there is at least one person who wants them back, they are now dead forever.

I wrote a lot… well, more than usual, anyway. In both the story, the little preview piece directly bellow, and in the author's box. That's partly as a pay back for last chapter's low quality, and partly because I have so much pent-up writers energy… actually, this is the longest chapter I have yet to write! Longer than the first chapter!

Well, I'm starting to really feel like my two-and-a-half-weeks-ago self again! I'm not completely normal, but I'm as close as I've ever been without being there! I'm never taking that medicine again, and I'll try to stick with ones that don't try to suffocate my inner author. Ummm… so, yeah, there are several surprises this chapter! One's that'll make you go, "Whoah! That surprised me!"

Also, on an unrelated note, "Strongest Love," my newest story, did way too well with the attention it received. Almost to the point where I got upset. It's first chapter (and the only one out at the moment) got more reviews in two days than any one chapter for this story. It now has 27 reviews. For any of the people who liked that story, and also likes this story to the point where you are actually reading this note right now, I won't be able to continue it for a few weeks, maybe. I am trying to find a good personality for Sakura. I don't just want her to be the bitchy wife who cheats on her husband, I hate it when stories have a character for the sole purpose of being hated on. I need to give her some sort of purpose, aside from being the source of all of Naruto's misery. I won't update until I can figure out how to do it, and if anyone has any ideas, be sure to let me know. I refuse to make a character for the sole purpose of giving the readers someone to hate on. Too many fics do that, and it sickens me.

Well, enjoy the over-due update!

Thank you 'Emotionally Unstable Fangirl' for the beta work, I really appreciate the help you have given this story.

* * *

Naruto rested against the wall in a dark, stale room. It was a gray and bleak room, with walls made of dungeon-looking gray bricks. There was a barred window higher up on the wall in front of Naruto, shining down moonlight upon his head. His eyes were closed, and his head hung down. His arms were raised, attached to the wall above him, and his red and black sleeves were tattered, as was the rest of his outfit. Blood ran down his body, pooling around the ground beneath his feet where it dripped down upon.

"Uhhh…" Naruto stirred, his eyes breaking open slightly so he could see. The first thing he saw was the bloody pool, slowly making its way to the edges of the room. He tried to lift his head, but found the action too difficult. He tried to move his arms, and ended with the same results. "H-how… how long have I been here…?" he asked, and Anko walked towards him from the shadows. She wasn't wearing anything, her snow white skin glowing faintly in the moonlight.

"Naruto," she called, taking another step towards him and moving her right hand to his face, lightly tracing the deep scar that rested there. "Naruto…"

Naruto looked up. He was outside in the bright sunlight, in his secret meadow, and he could see his family standing on the other side of the field. It was bigger than he remembered, the meadow that is, and Sakura, Hinata, Kurenai, Anko, Iruka, Ayame, Teuchi, Ino, Ami, Haku, Zabuza, Fuyuki, the Hokage, Rogue, Ichigo, and Luffy stood at the far end of it. Anko, who was still naked, was standing at the head of the group, with her arms outstretched towards him. Naruto looked down at himself to see that the tattered clothes, stained with blood, were still hanging loosely to him. He looked back up to them and grinned.

"Naruto…" she whispered, but her voice sounded perfectly clear, echoing off the trees and plants that surrounded everything. He ran towards his family, and Anko mimicked his grin. As he ran, his tattered clothes fell off, shred by shred until he reached her. When he did, he was naked too. "Naruto…" she repeated, and he grabbed onto her hands. She smiled, but after a few seconds, her face screwed up into one of agony. "Naruto!" she screamed, and he looked down. Her arms were bleeding out of her pores, and large red veins were bulging out of her arms, and creeping up to her body.

Heat licked at his face, drying and irritating his eyes, causing him to blink, and the scene changed. There was fire everywhere, painting the entire sky thick with smoke. Anko and the rest of his family were gone; only flames surrounded him now. "…Na'to…" he heard someone call weakly through the smog-filled air. He followed the voice through the flames, and saw a man with smoke and cinders swirling around him choking the life out of Rogue. "NO!" he yelled, rushing towards him.

The life faded out of Rogue's face very slowly as Naruto approached, but seemed to quicken with every step he took. The man had his hands around her throat, with a sadistic and twisted smile on his face as he crushed her windpipe.

"…Na'to…" she whispered, then went limp. The man threw Rogue to the side, then looked up to Naruto. He was wearing a long jacket. The jacket torso area thing (the part that doesn't include the sleeves) was black with large dark purple stitches (think Stien from soul eater), and the sleeves were dark purple with black stitches. The jacket was open, and underneath was a solid purple shirt. He wore baggy pants that were black, with large purple pockets on the side.

Naruto looked around the ground beneath him. The bodies of his family lay strewn out across the floor, all with the same look on their face and the same hand impressions on their necks. "What… what have you done?" Naruto asked hoarsely, kneeling down beside Rogue.

"Yes," the man spoke calmly, chuckling slightly, causing Naruto to look up to him, "what have you done?" he asked, and Naruto felt his breath catch in his throat. The man had three whisker marks on either of his cheeks, as well as a long and deep scar running down from the left eyebrow, down across his eye and down to the right cheek. The man had calm blue eyes, and blonde hair. His face and hair was stained with blood, making it look even more menacing then it already did as cinders begun to swirl quickly around the man.

Suddenly, Naruto took the place of the man. The Naruto beside Rogue disappeared, and Naruto was now seeing and hearing what the man did, feeling what he felt. He chuckled, then turned to face the two women behind him. One had long black hair; she wore a gray and black camouflage scarf and pants, with a tan sleeveless shirt. The other had long pink hair with horns coming out of her head, yellow eyes with black sclera's (the whites of your eyes), and smooth dark brown skin. She also had a loose tan T-shirt, with a skin-tight black undershirt beneath it, and a large purple knot tied behind her back and around her waist.

"NARUTO!" a voice shouted, and a glimpse of a woman flashed in his mind. A young looking, big-breasted woman with long blonde hair; She had a blue diamond on her forehead, with a green top that showed too much cleavage, and green pants that went down to half-way down her shins.

Her voice faded to darkness. The heat he was feeling from the flames faded too, and the two women in front of him faded as well. Suddenly he was suspended in darkness, not a sight or sound anywhere. He could feel the emptiness creeping out of him, eating up his insides like a worm in an apple. Then a giant set of teeth appeared in front of him, with a grin that split the darkness. The teeth separated slightly, and words begun to form in Naruto's mind. "**Did you really think that you get to be happy?" **the voice asked in an amused tone before chuckling back into the darkness.

"NARUTO!" Anko shouted, shaking Naruto as he lay in a hospital bed. His eyes snapped open, and he screamed out in horror. "Naruto, what's wrong! Are you okay? What happened?"

He looked around in a horribly nervous manner. "Oh my god! I killed them!" he shouted, his voice cracking under the strain of the cry.

"No, Naruto, it's fine! Everything's fine, okay? You didn't kill anyone!" she assured him, moving to hug him. She rubbed his back soothingly as she cooed to him, "It's okay, Naruto, it was just a dream."

After a several seconds of soothing, Naruto was able to calm down. Anko pulled back, as Naruto took a deep breath, wiping the sweat off of his forehead, and leaning back in the bed.

"Naruto," Anko started, leaning back into her own chair, "Who's Kin and Tayuya?"

"Who and who?" Naruto asked, a puzzled expression replacing the horrified one from moments ago.

"You were talking in your sleep. You called out the names 'Kin' and 'Tayuya' before you woke up."

Naruto furrowed his brow, looking quizzically down at his hospital bed sheets. "Hmm… no, I have no idea who they are. Never even heard those names before."

"Well," Anko started, leaning forward in her chair, "do you remember what you're dream was about?"

"Hmmm… well, it started off in this dungeon thing, and I was tied up and you were naked, and then—"

"Naruto!" Anko shouted out quickly through her slight blush, putting her hand up in a 'stop' gesture. "Those are the kind of dreams you keep to yourself, okay? You don't have to share those, especially with the people their about."

"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked, completely oblivious to how he made it sound.

"Ehh… eheheh," Anko laughed nervously, wondering if it was time to explain the birds and the bees, when the door to the hospital room opened.

"O-oh! N-Naruto-kun! Y-you're awake!" Hinata called, holding two cups of steaming something in her hands.

"Yeah, Hinata, he just woke up. He was having a… dream… of some sort…" Anko explained, trying to find someway of changing the topic.

"Yeah, it was a nightmare," Naruto whispered, shuddering underneath the sheets.

Anko's left eye twitched slightly, "A nightmare, you say?" she asked, pissed off that a dream involving her naked would be a nightmare.

"Yeah. I was locked up in this dungeon thing when you came in. You didn't have any clothes on. Then you called to me, and then I was in the forest, and everyone was there with me. I ran to you guys, and when I got there, I grabbed onto your hands, but then they started bleeding, and you started screaming. Then I was somewhere that was on fire. Then I found some guy choking Rogue. Everyone else was lying around the guy, dead. And then I saw it was me, the one choking everyone. Then everything turned black, and I saw a giant set of teeth, and they told me in a scary voice, they said, "Did you really think that you get to be happy?""

"…wow, that really was a nightmare," Anko said, taking a sip of the hot coffee Hinata had handed her.

"What happened? Last thing I remember, we went looking for Sakura-chan…" he started, looking up to the hospital lights as he tried to piece together his memories, then his features hardened in anger, "Sasuke."

"Y-you've been out f-for three days, N-Naruto-kun," Hinata spoke up, causing the blonde to turn to her, "b-but Hokage-sama has e-everyone looking for her. W-we'll find her! Don't worry!"

"Well, now that you're awake, I'll go let the Hokage know. Stay here, I won't be gone long," Anko said, drinking some more coffee before setting it down and heading out. After the door closed, Naruto turned to Hinata.

"Come on, Hinata-chan, I know where Sakura-chan is," Naruto said, causing Hinata to gasp in surprise.

"Y-you know? W-where is she?" Hinata asked, putting her own cup of coffee down to give Naruto her full attention.

"I'm not sure where it is, but I know how to get there! I saw visions of where she was when I fought Sasuke, but we have to go before Anko-sensei comes back!" Naruto explained, unsure himself why he couldn't allow his sensei to come along.

"U-um… o-okay, N-Naruto-k-kun," she mumbled, blushing as Naruto took her hands and led her to the window. The adjacent building was close enough for them to clear easily, and Naruto took the first jump. He landed effortlessly, and Hinata immediately followed. They rushed away from the building, making sure to get away before Anko could realize they were gone and find them.

They traveled to the far side of the village to a small lake. There was a small cavern off to the side. Naruto and Hinata maneuvered over to the cave, walking along the walls to get down to it without falling into the water. The cave was small and dark, with a small stream running down the bottom of it that led deep into the earth. Naruto walked on without hesitation, and torches lit on the side of the walls, leading down the cave. Hinata looked behind them nervously, but continued walking alongside Naruto.

After a minute or two of walking, the cave begun to expand, growing until the ceiling was twenty feet high, and then they saw her. Sakura was across the room/cavern, chained to a wall and completely naked. She had several injuries, bruises and cuts, littered across her normally flawless skin. She had a blindfold on, a black leather one that covered more than half of her face, as well as a bit gag (is that what those things are called that wrap around someone's head, and hold something in their mouth so they can't talk?) in her mouth.

"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried out, but a sharp intake of breath turned his attention behind him. He turned just in time to see Hinata hit the floor, Sasuke standing behind her with an outstretched hand.

"Wow, that was easy," he said, and the glowing blue kanji appeared on his body again. "She really should have had her byakugan activated." Naruto was speechless, just staring at Sasuke with his mouth agape. "Aren't you going to ask me what I did to your precious Sakura…? No…? Well, I'll just tell you then. Nothing really bad happened, just regular torture. You know, humiliation torture. Beating her, and then assaulting her with random objects, but I didn't want to start the fun stuff, not yet."

Naruto first looked to Sasuke with a look disbelief, but it slowly turned to one of rage. "Sasuke!" he snarled, and Sasuke smiled.

"No, the fun stuff was saved for when you got here. I'll tie you up over there, and you can watch! And you were so kind as to bring another one of your "Precious Whores," that we'll have to make sure to use her as well!"

Naruto snapped, the only thing preventing him from charging was the dizziness his rage caused momentarily. In that duration, however, Sasuke's kanji symbols glowed for a moment, then faded. "H-huh?" Sasuke called, bringing his right hand up to his head, "What? Naruto? Where are…" he started, but stopped when Naruto charged at him. Before another syllable could have been uttered, however, Naruto was upon him, his clawed fingers gripping his throat as Sasuke fell back onto the ground. Sasuke gasped and choked for air, but none was allowed to the raven-haired teen. As Naruto sat on his chest, he could feel Sasuke's windpipe crushing under the strain of his hands, and a hidden part of him seemed to flare up from the depths of his soul.

'Kill him,' it whispered, 'He has hurt Sakura-chan, kill him.' the voice sounded much like Naruto's own, but the intensity and hatred it seethed was nothing like Naruto had ever imagined. 'Break his neck, crush his skull, tear out his spine!' the voice chanted maliciously.

The presence of a new voice in his mind snapped Naruto out of his rage, and he was able to actually see what he was doing instead of just watching. Unfortunately for Sasuke, this took about 2 minutes for Naruto to realize what he was doing and let go. The black haired teen's neck had a deep hand impression on his neck, drool was coming out of the side of his mouth, and his eyes were blood shot, with thin tear streaks streaming down his cheeks.

"I…" Naruto started, trying to think, but the fact that he just killed someone was a little overwhelming. He moved his hand slowly up to Sasuke's crushed neck, and felt for a pulse. There was none to be found. Naruto sat there for an unknown amount of time, unable to believe that he had actually just ended someone, until he heard a faint cry. His senses awoke, and he could now hear Sakura crying. She might've been awake the whole time, and Naruto's rage had deafened her cries, but he had no idea. She struggled against the metal cuffs that locked her arms over her head and into the stonewall, and she pulled her knees up in front of her chest in an attempt to protect herself.

"Sakura-chan!" he shouted out, and pushed off of Sasuke to run towards her. She flinched at the sudden noise, and frantically pulled against her restraints. Naruto reached her, gently pulling the blindfold off her face. She immediately closed her eyes; the sudden light did not agree with her eyes. There was crusted blood outlining where the blindfold had clamped onto her skin. "Sakura-chan," Naruto whispered to her after removing the blindfold.

"N-N-Naruto…?" she gasped out, utterly astounded at hearing his voice again. She opened her eyes, and saw Naruto fumbling with his jacket. After he was able to remove it, he wrapped it around her. "T-there's a k-ke-key, there!" Sakura said, pointing her chin up towards the wall above and to her left. Naruto turned towards where she pointed, and saw the key hanging on one of the torches. He grabbed it, then promptly unlocked Sakura's cuffs. Her arms fell to the ground, and she tried to push herself up. It was too difficult, so Naruto picked her up bridal style.

"I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, Sakura-chan," he said softly, the vibrations from his talking gently reverberating through Sakura's weak body, "but you are in no condition to move on your own." Sakura stared at him for a moment, then nodded. In any normal situation, if she didn't strike him down for getting too close to her naked body, she would have blushed and looked away shyly; she as not in the mood for blushing, however, torture kind of takes that out of people (well… most people… there are certain people who get rather 'excited' from being tortured).

Naruto made his way over to Hinata. She was still passed out, so he created a clone to pick her up in the same manner as Sakura. They headed out of the cave, with Naruto sparing the motionless form of Sasuke a glance before continuing to the exit.

* * *

In a dark room, an old man sat behind a desk. A flickering torch illuminated a decent portion of the room.

"Danzo-sama," a root member called, stepping into the flickering light of the flame, "everything has fallen into place." The man walked towards the old man behind the desk, and handed him a scroll.

Danzo un-scrolled the scroll, and begun to scroll through its contents (heheh).

"The incident with Naruto and Sasuke three days ago distracted 'Hokage-sama' long enough for us to start bribing inmates to kill the girl. We also had a few other inmates start a riot at that moment as you ordered, and in the chaos, we were able to extract her from the prison. The only down side is, she killed the three men we had bringing her here."

Danzo nodded, still reading the scroll. "It's fine. Our priority was keeping her from revealing anything to that fool, Hiruzen. We have done that. She will not tell anyone anything, she does not want to reveal herself and get imprisoned again. We now have ample time to find and eliminate her."

"Yes, Danzo-sama. Also, Naruto has woken up only a short while ago. The subliminal images of Haruno Sakura's torture chamber led him straight to it, as well as keeping him from bringing his sensei. He confronted Sasuke, then we cut the chakra feed to the puppet. Naruto killed him, then left with Sakura."

A grin spread across Danzo's face. "And that's checkmate against the Kyuubi. Remove the genjutsu on the cave, and be ready to capture him once Sasuke's body is discovered." Danzo instructed, a bit of mirth making its way into his usually monotone voice.

"Yes, Danzo-sama." the root member said, bowed, then fell back out of the flickering light.

Things had worked out perfectly with the Kyuubi. Sure, Danzo could have had Sasuke kill him, but that would have left Sasuke. Evidence. They would have probed his mind and that would have led to the discovery of the surgery he underwent so that they could control him. It would have just been a big mess, one even the slippery Danzo might not have been able to get out of. And he was even able to figure out a way out of the Hokage's inevitable defense of 'He killed Sasuke, who attacked fellow ninja, as part of his duty' thing: What proof would they have? Naruto would, without a doubt, heal his tortured teammate to the point where she would have not a mark on her. Kidnapping, if enough people even believed that's what happened, would warrant only prison time, not execution. 'Now it's only a matter of time, and Konoha will be safe from the Kyuubi forever,' Danzo thought to himself, relaxing into his chair, confident that everything had just fallen perfectly into place.

* * *

Naruto didn't really know where he should go, but seeing as how Sakura was in such a bad state, he headed back to the hospital. Maybe Anko-sensei would be there too. Early on, while heading to the hospital, Sakura had fallen asleep. She was weak and tired, and she probably had no chance to rest; if she wasn't being tortured, she was racked with fear of when it was going to start again.

He returned to his hospital room through the window; he saw Anko sitting in the chair beside his bed, looking down at the floor tiles with an angry expression on her face. "Anko-sensei! We found Sakura!" Naruto called cheerfully as he entered. Anko looked up, tears in her eyes, and her face flushed with anger.

"Naruto…" she started slowly, standing up and fishing a kunai out of her tool kit, "Do NOT, leave this room again. Got it?" she told him, leaving no room for any answer other than the 'Yes Anko-sensei' Naruto managed to squeak out. "Good," she said, then raised the kunai, and plunged it into her stomach. Naruto could only gasp in horror before she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

He gaped at the air she had previously occupied until he understood he had been talking to a shadow clone. "Jeez, Anko-sensei," he muttered, placing Sakura down in the bed he previously occupied, "give me some warning next time!" He turned to the clone that had followed him in through the window, and he took Hinata from it. It poofed away after handing over Hinata, and Naruto brought her to the second bed in the room.

Turning to Sakura, Naruto noticed that she had already healed a great deal from when he had rescued her. He then moved over to her, and placed his hands on her face, concentrating on healing her, even though he had no idea how he actually healed people. After about 30 seconds, all of her wounds were gone, and her skin had the normal healthy glow it usually did. Or, at least all of her skin that wasn't covered in dirt or blood did.

Naruto sat back in the chair Anko's clone was occupying before he arrived, and waited. He had no idea what he was waiting for, but from the clone's tone and expression, he was to do it without question. After about a minute of quietly wondering to himself about what was going to happen, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he got that sick feeling in his stomach that told him he was in danger. He stood up and became alert; he would have normally bolted, but two of his most precious people were there, he couldn't just run.

The room got deathly quiet; the only sound Naruto could hear was his own breathing and his own heart beat. The scarred blonde slowly reached into his ninja pouch, and grabbed a kunai to defend himself with. He searched the room with his eyes, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He scanned the side with Sakura, then turned to Hinata's side. As he did, a sharp stinging sensation went through his neck. He fell to the floor, unable to move. The only movement he seemed capable of performing was blinking rapidly, and wildly moving his eyes around, trying to catch a glimpse of his assailant.

A soft tapping sound from the direction of the window; someone must have landed in the room. The tapping didn't return for a moment, but when it did, Naruto could make out that a person was walking around the bed Sakura rested in. The taping then turned towards him, and grew louder until it stopped behind his head. Nothing happened for a moment, but then he felt hands grab him by the back of his shirt (Sakura's wearing his jacket), and slam his back into the wall. He winced through the slight pain it caused, then opened his eyes to see the tear-streaked face of Anko.

She didn't say anything, she just kept staring at him with anger as the tears continued to flow down her cheeks. "A-Anko-sensei, I—"

"Shut up," she interrupted sharply. Her voice sounded hoarse and weak, but at the same time stable and strong. It was a very different Anko from anything Naruto had seen before, a very different Anko from anything anyone has seen before; Naruto was unsure what to do, so he just did what she said and waited for her to talk.

After staring at him for about half a minute, she spoke. "Next time I tell you something, Naruto, you do it. And every time after that. Doesn't matter what it is, you do it. If I tell you to do your training on your hands, you do it. If I tell you to lick your elbow, you immediately start doing tongue-stretching exercises until you can do it. And the next time I tell you to wait in a room until I get back, you do it. Understand." Anko told him calmly. There was no room for anything from Naruto, not even an answer. This wasn't a statement that required an agreement; this was how it was going to be, and that was that. She let him go, and he slumped to the floor.

She looked down at him for a second, then sat down in the chair that he was sitting in before she came back. She was facing away from him, just sitting in silence for several long moments. She was still giving off the aura that told Naruto keep-your-mouth-shut, so he did just that.

After the long silence, she reached across to the foot of the bed Sakura was on, his previous resting bed, and took a clipboard off of the rack. She started talking, presumably reading off of the clipboard-chart. "Eight broken ribs, right leg broken in two places, right arm broken and dislocated, broken jaw, fractured skull, severe internal bleeding in the stomach, punctured lung, and a fractured collarbone," she read off, then turned to the still paralyzed blonde with renewed tears building up in her eyes. "If Hinata and Fuyuki hadn't been there, he would have killed you, Naruto. That damage was done in under a minute."

Naruto felt his eyes heat up and start to water; seeing his sensei so upset was hurting him, much more than he thought he could be hurt by someone else's pain. "Naruto," she said, her voice starting to waver slightly, "Your life means something. You are important to a lot of people, more important than you realize. Don't… don't do something stupid like… like this again…" she told him, but started to cry. The sobs were small at first, almost like small hiccups, but each one seemed to build off the last as she continued.

"…I'm sorry, Anko-sensei…" Naruto said, his own tears starting to parade down his cheeks, "… I… I promise not to…" he tried, while also trying to hold down the cries that were building up in his chest. After staring at each other for a few moments, Anko dove into him, hugging him and crying into his shoulder. He hugged her back… or tried to, but he was still kind of paralyzed. After a moment of futilely trying to move his arms, he settled for just hugging her with his chin.

* * *

After letting her emotions out for a bit, Anko composed herself. She gave Naruto the anti-venom snake to de-paralyze him, and they woke Hinata up. Naruto waited in the hall as they dressed Sakura in a hospital gown, giving Naruto his jacket back when they were done. Hinata stayed with Sakura at the hospital to make sure she got rest while Anko and Naruto headed to the Hokage tower. That's where they are right now, reporting to the Hokage.

"So you had visions of where Sakura was?" Hokage asked, mostly to himself, but Naruto answered.

"Yeah. They showed me exactly where she was," Naruto replied, standing beside Anko before the Hokage's desk.

"And, why did you go without your sensei? Even though it wasn't a mission, you really should have brought Anko with you for something this important," the elderly Hokage said, picking his pipe up again. He had set it down to listen to the entirety of the story with his full attention.

"I… I don't know, I just sort of… something was telling me not to bring my sensei, I guess," Naruto said, trying to explain the need to leave without Anko.

The Hokage's eyes widened slightly, and he looked to Anko. She had the same look on her face. She had just assumed he wasn't thinking when he left without her, but this was completely different. "Alright, Naruto," the Hokage continued, "you won't be punished this time, but make sure it doesn't happen again. We will need to check you in a little bit though, after we sort this entire thing out. Now, about Sasuke…"

Naruto's face darkened. He could feel Sasuke's throat under his hands, the lingering feeling of the life he choked out of existence. It didn't matter what Sasuke did, it still didn't change the fact that he actually killed someone, with his own hands this time, and the fact that he liked it. That voice still rung in his ears, it hadn't settled down since then. It was still whispering to him, begging and pleading for that feeling again. He was able to quell the need to choke the life out of someone, but the voice didn't go away. "Yeah. His… body… should still be in the cave…"

"Naruto, you know that…" Hokage started, trying to help his grandson (in sense, not blood) over his first kill, "That was something that had to be done. If it wasn't you, we would have done it. His crimes were inexcusable. I will make sure that you are protected from even the possibility of another trial."

"… Thank you, ojii-san…" Naruto said, drooping his head a bit. That was an easing thought, that he wouldn't be executed for his actions, but that wasn't really what bothered him the most.

The doors to the office opened before another word could be spoken, and a bear faced ANBU entered the room. "Oi! Excuse me, Hokage-sama."

"Yes, what is it, Bear? I was having an important conversation," the Hokage replied, a little short tempered by the sudden interruption.

"Sorry, sorry! But, we found the cave, Haruno Sakura's holding area, and Uchiha Sasuke was where Uzumaki Naruto said he'd be, but," Bear said, then paused to inhale and exhale through his nose, "Uchiha Sasuke was alive."

"What?" Naruto asked quietly, turning to face the ANBU. It was without a doubt that Naruto had killed him, there was no chance he could have survived. "I… I checked him… he had no pulse, and his wind-pipe was crushed!"

"Yeah, yeah. He attests to that, but he has no damage anywhere; barely even a sore throat."

"Well…" Anko started when realization dawned on her, and she put a comforting hand on Naruto's shoulder, "It looks like you healed him on accident after you killed him."

The Hokage was quiet for a moment, then stood up. "Where is he now? Down under the tower?"

The ANBU stood a little straighter. "Yeah, yeah. He's down in the tower's prison cells."

"Naruto, Anko, come with me; we're going to see him now."

"Huh?" Naruto asked, a little worried about how he might react if he saw Sasuke again, "Wh-why are we going?"

The Hokage sighed, and looked down to Naruto. "We are going to test Anko's attraction theory… god I hope this doesn't turn weird."

Anko paled a little. She had forgot about that part. Well… it had to be done at some point in time, might as well be now.

They had all headed down to the prison hold, Hokage leading, followed by Bear, with Anko and Naruto behind them.

Sasuke was in the second cell to their left. He was holding his knees and sitting in the left most corner of the room on the bed. "Uchiha Sasuke," the Hokage started, causing Sasuke to look up and then rush to the bars.

"Finally! Hokage-sama, what's going on? Where am I? Why am I locked up? What's happening?" he rambled, looking quickly across the faces of his four visitors.

The Hokage answered him. "You have been imprisoned for the kidnapping and torture of Haruno Sakura."

"What…? Me? I didn't do anything! When did I get out of the hospital? That's the last thing I remember before waking up in that cave and getting attacked by Naruto!" Sasuke rambled some more, and after a few seconds of silence, the Hokage turned to Bear.

"Go get me Inoichi," he ordered, watched as the ANBU left, then turned back to Sasuke. "We'll check to see what happened to you, but in the mean time…. look at Naruto."

"Why?" Sasuke asked, then did what he was told with a scowl. Naruto was still angry at what Sasuke had done, and it was showing on his face. They stared at each other for a while, then Anko spoke.

"Sasuke, how do you feel?"

"Huh?" he started, furrowing his brow at the randomness of it all, then turned to her, "Fine, I guess. Why, how am I supposed to feel?"

Anko nodded, then she and the Hokage turned away from the two teens. "Either it doesn't work on boys," Anko started, "or he ran out of it. It didn't work the last time he used it either. He healed a wound for Rogue, who had been impaled by a sword."

"Hn…" the Hokage grunted, then looked back to the two teens. "As long as he still can heal, it's fine."

* * *

Naruto and Anko had stayed in the holding area. They wanted to go and comfort Sakura, but they wanted to find out exactly what happened with Sasuke first. About ten minutes passed while they were waiting for Inoichi to arrive, when someone called out to Naruto.

"Hey, kid," the rough sounding voice of Zabuza called from inside of his cage, "Come over here."

Naruto turned to him, saw his face pressed against the space in between two of the bars in the 4th cell away from the stairs. After looking back to Anko, who nodded, he walked over to him. "Yeah?" he asked as he reached the front of the cell, "What is it?"

Zabuza sighed, then backed up a little bit so he could stand upright. "Can I ask you a favor?" he asked seriously, and folded his arms across his chest.

"…" Naruto just stared at him, wondering what it was that he could possibly want, "Sure, what is it?"

"Well… I normally wouldn't ask anyone, and certainly not you," he started, and Naruto scrunched his face up in a pout.

"What do you mean 'certainly not you?' what do you have against me?" the blonde asked, mimicking Zabuza's body posture unconsciously.

"It's nothing personal, it's just…" Zabuza started, then scratched his unshaven chin a little bit, making a 'scritch scritch' type of sound, "it's just that you're a little weird. I mean, you like to turn into a girl."

"What! I don't like to, I do it to hide! And your daughter does it to, she pretends to be a boy!" Naruto argued, and a vein popped out a bit on the mist demon's forehead.

"She does NOT! There's a difference; she doesn't change anything about herself! She just lies a little! You would probably actually turn into a girl if you could! You probably wear woman's underwear, too!" Zabuza hollered, and Naruto ground his teeth.

"What gave you THAT idea! Why would I do something like that! I'm proud of my manhood! Your daughter's probably jealous or something! She wishes she had manhood!" Naruto yelled, and three more veins popped out on Zabuza's head, one on either temple, and one on the right side of his neck.

"WHAT! Take that back, you little shit! Haku's proud to be a girl! And why do you keep calling her my daughter!" he shouted, and Naruto looked at him funny, his anger dissipating a bit.

"What are you talking about; of course she's your daughter! What else would she be!" he declared loudly, and Zabuza shook his head.

"No, idiot, I'm not her father. We aren't even related."

"Of course you're her father, idiot, it doesn't matter if your related or not. You don't need the same blood to be family."

"…" Zabuza had no reply. He just stared at the short blonde, who looked much shorter when standing before the giant of a man known as Momochi Zabuza. "Whatever. So, will you do me a favor?"

"Yeah. You still haven't told me what it is yet."

"Can you go and check on Haku?" he asked, and Naruto cocked his head a little, "She has been here for a week, but she doesn't know anyone. I don't know when I can get out, so if you could go and see how she's doing, I would really appreciate it. She seemed to have made some connection with you in Wave, and she feels safe around you, and I'm pretty sure she would want to see a friendly face."

Naruto smiled as he put his hands behind his head. "Sure thing!" Naruto agreed, a split second before Zabuza's hand shot out from between the bars and pulled Naruto against the bars.

"And if I find out you tried anything," he snarled as Naruto begun to sweat and try to free himself from the large man's grasp, "I'll replace your eyeballs with your testicles!" At that point he let him go, right before Anko reached them to forcibly remove Zabuza. "I'll assume we understand each other," Zabuza growled as he matched Anko's glare with one of his own.

"N-not really; Wh-what am I not supposed to try?" he asked, causing Zabuza to start growling, then switch his gaze over to him.

Naruto flinched away, and Anko sidestepped in front of him. "He won't try anything," she assured calmly, "he's innocent in that department. He still hasn't learned of the birds and the bees."

Zabuza's face twitched into a suspicious scowl. "How old is he? At least 12, right? He should have learned all of that already in school, right?"

Anko shook her head, not relaxing her protective stance one bit. "No, they changed that a long time ago; we let the kids learn at their own pace. It's a requirement only for Chunins, now."

Zabuza was quiet for a moment, then grunted. "Hn. My promise still stands: don't try anything, kid, you WILL regret it."

Naruto stepped out from behind Anko, and bowed. "I promise that I won't do anything to harm your daughter, Zabuza-san." Anko looked back to him with surprise, and Zabuza just blinked as he watched the blonde bow respectfully (Naruto addresses him with respect because of his relationship with Haku; Naruto could tell, if you remember, that Haku was just like him in the being unwanted and fearing abandonment department, so he feels a respect for Zabuza for becoming Haku's family. Even though he did nothing for Naruto, Naruto still feels a connection to Zabuza through Haku's past suffering. Difficult to explain, but you get the gist of it).

"Oi," a voice called from the stairway, causing everyone in the room who wasn't behind bars to turn and see the bear masked ANBU standing there, "Inoichi just got here."

"Alright," the Hokage replied, "send him down. It's time to get to the bottom of this."

Inoichi walked down the stairs a few moments after that. He turned to see everyone now standing before Sasuke's cell. He headed towards them, and turned to Sasuke when he reached the second cell. "Am I doing it from outside the cell, or do you want me to go in there?" he asked, and the Hokage sighed.

After a moment of thinking, he decided. "It'll be easier to do in there, won't it? Sasuke, stand back to the wall." Sasuke complied, and Bear opened the door, allowing Inoichi to enter. After Inoichi was in, Bear shut the cell door behind him.

"Alright," Inoichi started, raising his right arm, "Stay still, this will only take a minute or two." Sasuke nodded, relaxing and closing his eyes. Inoichi placed his hand on his head, and they stayed that way for about two minutes.

Inoichi pulled away, and the Hokage spoke up. "What did you see, Inoichi?"

Inoichi sighed, taking a step away from the raven-haired teen. "Well, his memory is all there, but there are entire sections missing, and most of it is clouded. There are only three memories that are clear: six days ago, he remembers being in an operating room for the briefest of moments, four days ago, he remembers waking up in the hospital, and then earlier today, he remembers the last moments of his confrontation with Naruto."

The Hokage sighed as he stared at the teen for several long moments. "Keep him here until we can sort everything out. Inoichi, I need you to work on his mind as much as you can, try to find out exactly what happened, who he came in contact with that could have caused this."

"Yes sir," Inoichi replied respectfully.

"But first," he added, putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder, who flinched slightly at the unexpected contact, "I want you to go with Naruto to see Sakura. She went through a lot in the past few weeks, so I want you to check her, make sure all the gears are turning properly. From what I heard from Kurenai, she refused to talk with anyone about her problems. If Naruto's death affected her more then she let on, than these past four days could have tipped her over the edge."

"I understand, Hokage-sama," Inoichi replied, then exited the cell after Bear opened it for him again.

"Alright," Naruto said, nodding to Anko, then to Inoichi, "let's get back to the hospital."

* * *

The three of them, Anko, Naruto, and Inoichi, had reached the hospital, and made their way up to the third floor where Sakura was. They were currently walking down the hospital hallway, on their way to Sakura's room.

"So, Inoichi," Naruto started, and the taller blonde frowned at the slightly disrespectfully familiar way in which Naruto addressed him, "If Sakura-chan does have a problem with her mind, will you be able to fix it for her?"

He sighed, then looked down to Naruto's hopeful eyes. "I'll do all I can, and if the damage isn't too bad, then I'll be able to fix it quickly."

"And what if it is bad," Naruto pressed, wanting to know the worst of it so there were no surprises.

"… well, in the worst situation I can see someone who witnessed someone somewhat close to them dieing, believing it was their fault for several weeks, and then being tortured severely, as we don't know the extent of the torture yet, for four days… it could take me several years. I remember checking her mental state in the academy; her mind wasn't particularly strong to begin with. And even after I fix all that can be fixed, she will probably never be the same."

Naruto became quiet, staring down to his feet as they walked through the hallway. Inoichi gave Anko an unsure and apologetic look, causing her to wave him off. "Naruto," Anko started comfortingly, "I'm sure she won't end up like that; me and Kurenai have been around her fairly often in these weeks since we became a team, and we haven't noticed any really bad signs in her. If she was in the worst situation possible after you died, we would have noticed."

Naruto seemed to lighten up a bit, but he still watched the ground. They continued to the room in silence. As they came up on the room, however, they started to here a commotion.

"Let GO!" one voice, female, yelled.

"S-Sakura," a timid voice, female, called out.

"You have to lie down and rest!" another voice, male, hollered.

"NO! Get, OFF!" the first voice yelled again.

"Arghh! What are ya doin'; grab her!" a new voice called out, and the door burst open.

Naruto, being directly across from the front of the door, was tackled by a pink-haired missile as it bolted from the room.

"Ooof!" he grunted as he fell, landing on his back with a wild looking Sakura on top of him.

"NARUTO!" she yelled, then begun to molest his mouth with hers. A wide-eyed Naruto started to panic, waving his arms about, with eyes bolting all over. He saw a very confused looking Inoichi, as well as a very amused looking Anko. Gasps of 'Naruto' were also heard each time Sakura pulled back slightly for air. Just as she had begun to rip his jacket off, she flew off of him. Naruto blinked, then saw her thrashing in the air with Ichigo and Luffy behind her, holding each of her arms.

"Stop it Sakura!" Ichigo yelled, and they begun walking backwards into the hospital room, "God, what is wron—" was all he got out before the wild pinkette's thrashing made a critical hit. A, very, critical hit in a, very, critical place. Both Ichigo and Luffy collapsed to their knees simultaneously, their arms clenched together protectively over their injured manhood, and then they both fell on their faces, leaving their butts sticking up in the air.

"Ooo-o-o-oh! My kintama!" Luffy squeaked out as he cringed, face first on the ground.

After Sakura was free, she pounced on Naruto again, only to be caught by Rogue in midair. "Calm down!" Rogue shouted, grabbing her face with a gloveless hand. She held it there, her hand, for a few seconds, until Sakura lost her fight. The moment she did, Rogue pulled her hand away, then drug the now unconscious Sakura back into the hospital room.

Naruto, still dazed on the floor, could only watch with an open mouth and bright red cheeks. After several moments, Naruto was able to stand up and enter the hospital room. Anko chuckled, while Inoichi was still trying to figure out what happened as they followed him into the room. They stepped over the collapsed pair of fallen ninja as they entered the room. Inoichi unconsciously covered his manhood as he entered, feeling a sudden sense of peril for his 'ninja blade and two soldier pills.'

A deeply blushing Hinata was sitting in one of the chairs by the bed, while Rogue was tucking Sakura tightly into the hospital bed.

"Excuse me," Inoichi said, stepping forward. Rogue looked to him suspiciously, then to Anko and Naruto. Naruto nodded, so Rogue let him by. Inoichi approached the bed, did a few hand seals, then closed his eyes and looked like he was concentrating.

About a minute passed before Inoichi opened his eyes again, in which time Luffy and Ichigo were able to shakily stand and lean against a wall. "I'm sorry, Naruto," he started, turning back to the anxious blonde, "The past four days seemed to be just enough to break her. She's not too much of a mess, but it will be a year or two before she'll be right again."

Anko turned to look at Naruto; he was staring at Inoichi, wide-eyed, with his hands shaking slightly. He blinked several times, then looked down to the floor just as a few tears became visible in his eyes. "Naruto," Anko started, and moved to place a hand on his shoulder, but he turned and ran from the room.

"Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered softly, then ran after him, with Rogue right behind her.

* * *

Naruto made it to the hospital roof with tear streaked cheeks. 'Damn it… DAMN IT!' Naruto shouted at the top of his mental lungs, 'Why do I have to be so weak! It's my fault… if I had beaten Sasuke three days ago…' he thought, starting his mental self-abuse, when he collapsed to his knees. 'Fox… where are you… talk to me fox,' Naruto thought, unsure how exactly to do what he was trying, but trying his hardest, 'FOX!' he mentally shouted again, squeezing his eyes shut as he did.

"**You rang?" **a deep voice called, and Naruto opened his eyes. He was in that watery sewer place, kneeling before the giant cage that sectioned off the Kyuubi from the rest of his mind and body. The giant set of teeth fixed into a grin, accompanied by the giant pair of eyes, seemed to dissolve into view, staring down at the kneeling blonde.

"Fox, help me!" Naruto shouted, standing up to look the Kyuubi as straight in the eye as possible considering their size difference, "I need you to help me fix my friend!"

The grin disappeared, and Naruto got the feeling he was frowning. "**Are you really trying to order me into doing something?" **he asked in an amused tone, and Naruto's face twitched slightly.

Following the twitch, Naruto kneeled on the ground, placing his face in the water and onto the ground beneath the water. "Please… please help me, fox. I need you to help me."

The grin appeared again, proceeded by a great bellowing laughter. The laugh continued for several seconds, but Naruto never raised his head. After another few seconds, the Kyuubi's laugh came to a halt with a snap of his teeth. "**Well, since you seem to be so set on this, why not?" **

"Really?" Naruto shouted, snapping his head up to face the floating face of the Kyuubi.

"**Yeah, sure, but you have to do something for me in return," **he said, his voice echoing off of the walls as he spoke, making him sound even more menacing than normal.

"Wh-what do I have to do! Tell me, whatever it is, I'll do it!" Naruto shouted, standing up again.

"**Nothing much, and nothing you won't enjoy. I want you to go out with a girl, start dating one of them," **the Kyuubi said, chuckling slightly at Naruto's confused expression.

"What? Why do I have to do that?" Naruto asked, causing Kyuubi to snap his teeth at him.

"**Did you want me to help your female, or not? You aren't mature or smart enough to get done what has to be done, so we have to settle for this right now."**

"…" Naruto hesitated for a moment, then remembered what Inoichi said about Sakura never being the same. "I'll do it. But… how? Do I ask a certain person, or is there a certain way to do it?" he questioned, and the large eyes in front of him squinted in amusement.

"**Just let your instincts guide you, you don't have to do anything perfect, or even halfway decent, just do something. And there are several girls around you can choose from, there are about six that would say yes if you asked them right now. Oh, and you have to do it by the end of the day, I don't feel like waiting a month for you to get your nerve up."**

"Y… yeah, I will. Okay, I agree, now help Sakura for me!" Naruto shouted, and Kyuubi's grin split the darkness as red chakra seeped out of the cage. There wasn't a lot of it, just a small stream. The chakra flowed towards Naruto's feet, spiraling up his body until it reached his head, then flowing into him through his nose. If the feeling was pleasant, then Naruto was the best actor to ever live. He coughed and hacked, eyes watering as he tried feebly to cover his now bleeding nose from the invading pain.

After a few seconds of chakra flowing and Naruto writhing, it was done. Naruto stood up, coughed a few times, and wiped the blood from his nose. "**There, all done. That wasn't so bad, was it?" **Kyuubi asked mockingly, earning a glare from the blonde, "**what flowed into your thick skull just now was a bit of my knowledge. It was the knowledge of how to perform a certain kitsune jutsu. If you use it quickly, while the injury is still fresh, before her mind cements the damage, you can revert it back to how she was before. Four days is a long time, so she might have some damage done even after you use that, but she will be perfectly fine."**

"Thank you!" Naruto shouted, then paused, looking down to his hands for a moment, "… can you teach me some more of those kitsune jutsus? I need to get stronger, I can't allow something like this to happen again, I have to be there next time!"

Kyuubi stared at him for a moment, then smirked. "**No. These are secret arts, no human, aside from ****you, knows how to do any of them. You will go throwing them out left and right, and then you'll show your friends, and then they'll become public knowledge. Maybe if I ever get to the point where I wouldn't instantly make your innards into outards the first chance I got, then I'll teach you."**

Naruto sighed, then nodded. "I understand. Okay, how do I leave? I need to go help Sa—" was all he got out before he opened his eyes on the roof. He stood up, then turned to see Hinata and Rogue opening the door.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata shouted softly, and he smiled at them.

They both twisted their faces in confusion, looked to each other, then back to the blonde. "Uh… Na'to? You okay?" Rogue asked, taking a few steps towards him.

"Yeah, I'm fine! Come on, I have to go help Sakura!" Naruto said cheerfully, then rushed past them, and back down to the hospital room he hastily left only a minute ago.

* * *

"So, there's nothing we can do to help her get back to normal?" Anko asked, already knowing the answer but asking anyway.

"No, I'm afraid not," Inoichi answered, sitting down in one of the two chairs around Sakura's bed. They sat in silence, watching Sakura sleep, until the door opened, and Naruto rushed over to Sakura's bedside.

"Naruto! What's going on?" Anko asked as Naruto went through many hand seals, most she had never seen before, as quickly and naturally as if Naruto had practiced them until he could do them in his sleep. Halfway through the barrage of hand seals Naruto was dishing out, his hands begun to glow red with a slightly golden hue. After the final seal, he moved his hands to either side of Sakura's head, resting his palms on her temples, and her eye's begun to twitch underneath her eyelids.

"Huhh… Naruto?" Sakura groaned, opening her eyes as she sat up a little on the bed. "Where am I?"

Naruto grinned. "You're in the hospital," he answered, standing straight up, "How do you feel? Did it work?"

"I'm-I'm fine, but why am I in a hospital?" Sakura replied, sitting up a little straighter and looking at all the gathered people in the room.

"Good, good," Naruto answered, too absorbed in the happiness of saving her mind that he didn't really pay any attention to her questions, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Last thing I remember? Umm… going for a walk with Sasuke last night."

"Do you remember being chained up in a cave at all?" Naruto pressed, causing Sakura to furrow her brow.

"That was real? I thought it was a dream. Why was I there?" Sakura asked, but she was ignored by Naruto.

"Was Sasuke there? How long do you remember being there?" Naruto continued his interrogation.

Sakura's left eye twitched a little. "Alright, enough with the 20 questions! What happened to me!" she shouted.

"You were kidnapped," Anko started, causing both Naruto and Sakura to turn to her, "And for the past four days you have been tortured."

Sakura gasped, going wide-eyed at the new information. "Hold on," Inoichi said, standing up from his chair. He threw out a few quick hand seals, the same he used earlier, then closed his eyes in concentration. Sakura closed her eyes too, a cause of the jutsu, and they both stayed that way for several seconds. "Wow… the damage done in the past four days has pretty much been reversed! There's still a bit of damage, but it's pretty much a scraped elbow compared to the broken arm it was before!"

Anko looked to Naruto, surprise evident on her face. "What did you do? What was that glowy thing?" she asked calmly, her mind racing through everything she knew to try to figure out what it was Naruto did.

"I learned a jutsu to fix Sakura," Naruto said, placing his hand on his stomach. Anko and Inoichi instantly knew what he meant, but everyone else was left clueless.

Before anyone could ask him what he was talking about, Kurenai walked into the hospital room. She was out of breath. "There…" she panted out, taking a deep gulp, trying to catch her breath, "you two are!" she shouted, pointing at Anko and Naruto, "You had me running…" she breathed out angrily, taking another breath of air in, "all over Konoha looking for you two!"

"Huh? Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto said, turning to face her, "What do you mean?"

She sighed. "Never mind that! Just tell me where everyone is going next time!" she got out, panting once more at the end.

You see, back when Anko was worried about where Naruto was when he disappeared from his room with Hinata, she went and contacted Kurenai. The five of them (Anko, Kurenai, Rogue, Ichigo, Luffy) searched everywhere they could think of to find Naruto. They split up, of course, and when Anko's clone's memories returned to her, she hurried to the hospital without alerting anyone. Kurenai and her team met back up at their training grounds, where they were supposed to meet a half hour after they started searching, but Anko was not there. They decided to head to the hospital; there, they realized they had missed Anko by seconds. Kurenai had her team stay at the hospital, and she headed to the Hokage tower. By that time, the Hokage, Anko, and Naruto were down in the holding area. After searching the tower, she headed back to the hospital. Anko and Naruto had not returned, so she set back out to search the village for them. After a total of an hour and a half of running (literally) around all over the village, she finally made it back to the hospital room and found Anko and Naruto.

* * *

Everything was explained to Kurenai, as well as everyone else in the room, concerning Sakura's kidnap. Afterwards, Rogue asked Naruto to come with her outside. They both moved up to the roof in silence.

"So… uh…" Rogue started after they made it to the roof, but couldn't seem to form any more meaningful words.

"What?" Naruto asked, giving her his full attention.

"W-well, there's… kinda something that ah've been tryin' ta… ta ask ya since ah got here," she continued, fumbling with her words slightly, sounding really nervous.

"Go ahead, you can ask me anything," Naruto offered, completely oblivious to what she wanted to ask, actually making it a little harder on the white-streaked brunette.

"Hehe," she chuckled, shifting a bit and folding her arms under the small mounds on her chest (even though she's almost fifteen, she has yet to fully develop in that area, as I have neglected to mention. She has hit puberty, she just hasn't grown much, and she's very sensitive about it. That's why Luffy poked fun at her about it the night of Naruto's date with Ami). "…" she was quiet for a moment, averting his eyes, but then she took a deep breath and started again. "Ah wanted ta ask ya a few days ago," she started, remembering the day she went to see him, but Ami got to him first, "would ya… like ta go out with me?" she asked, and Naruto nodded.

"Sure, where are we going?" he replied, causing Rogue's eye to twitch. She was finally able to get it out, but now she had to say it again.

"N-Na'to, ah… ah really like ya, and ah was asking if… we could, ya know, go out as… like, boyfriend an' girlfriend," she clarified, and realization suddenly dawned on Naruto's face. So did a blush.

"O-oh…" he started, completely unsure how to reply. A few seconds passed; this wasn't a good time for pauses, however.

A few tears begun to build in Rogue's eyes. "Ah… never mind," she laughed out, a crooked smile spreading across her face, "ah was… of course you wouldn't want ta, ya don't even know me…" she continued, wiping away a stray tear that had made it's way down her face. She turned to walk away, but Naruto grabbed her arm before she went.

"No! Rogue, I didn't mean… no, I was just surprised!" he started, an indescribable hurt creeping it's way through his heart at the clear pain he had just caused someone else, "I'm not really, you know… I don't really know what to do in this situation, you know? A few weeks ago, I never even thought I could have a family, but now…"

She knew what he was talking about, it was in one of the memories she had seen, the strong hope to belong in someone's family, anyone's. He had a few people who didn't hate him, but they all never seemed to be able to get too attached. That awkwardness that Naruto felt with them made it feel strange when they used honorifics with him, too. It was like they wanted to get close, but they couldn't.

"W-well," Naruto started up again, "I-if you want, we could… go on dates and stuff… but I don't really know much about that stuff…" he admitted, looking away and scratching the back of his head.

"It's alright," she told him, a large grin making it's way across her face as the unshed tears shed themselves down her cheeks, "we'll learn together." After staring at each other for a while, she blushed, and took off her right glove. "N-Na'to… d-do ya mind… c-could we hold hands? Ah've never even been able to touch someone before ah met you."

Naruto blushed a little himself. He had been able to come into contact with people, physically, but he had never actually just held someone's hand, and the action seemed a little intimate. After that thought, he thought he heard someone snickering in the back of his mind, but he couldn't really make it out, so he dismissed it. "Sure."

He reached out his hand, and she slowly laced his fingers into his. Her hand was very soft, and felt very fragile, but from what Ichigo and Luffy had told him about her treatment of them when they try to 'just make a little joke,' he knew that these hands were a lot stronger than they felt. Regardless, they gave him a calming feeling; he looked up to her, and saw she was blushing, looking down in a very cute and shy manner.

"Um… s-so what now?" he asked nervously, blushing a fair amount himself. Naruto felt his hand twitch slightly, the feeling of crushing Sasuke's neck gracing his sense for the briefest of moments.

* * *

Translation: Kintama: Japanese slang for testicles. Literally means "Golden Eggs"… I think… I'm pretty sure… it's either that or "Golden Balls"

And here's a snippet of Kurenai's early life that has nothing to do with nothing, but a decent clip regardless!

**Kurenai Gaiden**

Kurenai's dislike for men who look down on woman can be traced back to her early years, back to when she first enrolled in the academy. It wasn't really a dislike for the people who looked down on woman, but the belief that men were stronger.

"Kurenai," her father started, standing in front of her in the back yard training ground, "You've started you're ninja training recently at the academy, so I want to get a few things straight with you."

A seven-year-old Kurenai stood at attention across from him. "Yes, father."

"I was watching how you were doing at the academy today, and saw you're encounters with several of you're classmates, as well as the behaviors of you're other classmates amongst themselves, and I must say that I am disappointed."

"…" Kurenai kept quiet, but she felt a pang of fear for whatever misdeed she had done unknowingly. She wasn't abused, no, far from it, but still, the fear of a seven-year-old of her strict father would always be there.

"The way the older girls act, most blatantly ignoring their training and fawning after one of the 'cool boys', is disgusting. I felt sick just watching it. You understand? No daughter of mine will act like that, are we clear?"

"Yes, father," Kurenai said, nodding as well, "I promise not to act like them. Their actions have confused me as well."

"Good. Now, for my second reason for this conversation. I saw your interactions with one boy in particular earlier today," he started, and Kurenai tensed, unsure which action her father was displeased with, "I heard him tell you that you would never be able to be as good as a boy."

Kurenai remembered the exchange she had with the boy, but saw nothing wrong that her father could be angry with in particular. "Y-yes, father, I remember that conversation…"

"Now, I heard and waited for my daughter's response. Do you remember what it was?" he asked, and she stood straighter, remembering her exact response and reciting it exactly the way she said it earlier, down to the inflection and even the duration each word took.

"That may be, but I will be the best Kunoichi possible," she repeated, looking up hesitantly to her father, still unsure what her offence was. Her mind was racing through all possibilities, but couldn't come up with a single thing.

"Now, I can tell you don't know why I brought that conversation up, as you shouldn't. I have never addressed this topic with you, and for that reason you will receive no punishment." Kurenai visibly relaxed, but was still attentive, hanging on every word her father said. "Now Kurenai, what can you tell me about the difference between Shinobi and Kunoichi?"

She blinked, then listed off the differences. "Differences: Shinobi normally are better suited towards combat orientated missions, while Kunoichi are better suited towards missions requiring stealth because of their strength and chakra difference."

"Wrong!" her father shouted, making her flinch back slightly. "That is what the academy teachers will preach, but only because they are weak! There is no difference between Kunoichi and Shinobi other than appearances! The weak cling to the idea that Shinobi are the better fighters." Kurenai's eyes widened as she listened to her father, soaking up everything he was telling her. She would remember everything about this conversation until the day she died; everything from the smell of the trees surrounding the field, to how many clouds and birds were in the sky, to every change of volume in his voice. "Shinobi who believe Kunoichi to be weaker are arrogant fools, so absorbed in making themselves feel stronger than they are that they cling to a belief that is untrue. Kunoichi who believe that Shinobi are stronger are weak and self-pitying fools, unable to work to achieve strength, so they blame their own weakness of character on a belief that is untrue." Kurenai had barely blinked throughout the whole thing, and her father kneeled down to look her straight in the eye. "The only difference in strength is the starting point. Shinobi start off with a lead in power and chakra, but serious training, not extreme just serious, can even the playing field. Always remember that, no daughter of mine will choose to be weak because it's easier."

"Yes, father!" she called out, a new fire burning in her soul, one that would propel her to reach the rank of Jounin at the age of 15. And if not for spending most of her time caring for Anko after she was rescued from Orochimaru, she would have no doubt reached it an entire year earlier.

Author's box

* * *

First off, I need to say that I was inspired to write the dream scene by 'Lord Talon''s story, 'To Live Is So Much Harder'. In that story, some stuff happens, and Ino has a dream. She is running towards Naruto, and then in the most cliché dream event possible, she couldn't reach him; the harder she ran, the slower she went. Then, Sasuke and Sakura showed up and stabbed him through the chest with kunais. When I was reading that part, I was like, "Wouldn't that be awesome if she looked back up to them, and they were both her?" of course, that made no sense in that particular scene, but it makes all the sense in the world with the one I wrote. I hope you all liked that dream, because I really liked it, and put a little extra effort into making it, actually looking it over to see how I could make it better.

Now, onto the real Author's box ™.

… Naruto's finally hitting the dating scene! But, yeah, don't worry, I'm not giving Rogue special treatment, she has to be first for a few different things to work. Things that you will discover within the next 1-to-15 chapters… okay, it won't take that long, but, hey, if it makes you feel any better, I don't really know either! I just have to hope that the random path I chose works out! … oh… I said that aloud, didn't I? Dammit, I need a distraction! Hey everybody, look! The review button, it's down there! Click it, maybe something good will happen! Like, I don't know, a review! Also, I won't be able to start the 'A Rogue Ally' arc for serious until the Chunin exams, but I will be setting it up in the next two chapters. I can, however, start Ichigo's arc, and finish it before the Chunin exams (which, btw, are happening in 4-6 chapters). I'll call it… hmmm… 'Inner Monster,' or… maybe 'Hollow Inside'… or what about 'Nagamaki Massacre'? I like the 'Hollow Inside' one; it's a play on words, too. Like, 'Empty Inside'. Oh yeah, and finally, I realized that I am incapable of writing any of what I like to call 'fluffy filler'. You know, like, when a story will have good moments, and bad ones sometimes too, that are pretty much just filler. I can stand a little bit in other fics, but two chapters in a row with too much of it will kill a story for me. My story is always moving, there are constantly things happening, and when they do slow down for a minute, they are always unique slow moments. I will give you a bit of a warning, though… if and when I slow down, and nothing major or confrontational happens for two or three chapters … something big is only a chapter away… like, really big, and really awesome (in an angsty, unique, and 'Zidiane' kind of way) is about to go down.


	23. 20 Calling

YOSH! My youth burns brightly! I asked a couple cool people I found through fanfiction to read this story, and they have greatly inspired me! sort of… anyways! They have lead me to see things I haven't before, and greatly encouraged me to keep going strong. And remember when I said I learned ember through training before viridian city? Well, where I am now, I feel like I made it right before the second gym, misy's, and I've evolved… well, maybe to other people's standards I might've gotten to the fourth or fifth gym, but I'm very critical of myself. I still have a long way to go. Also, I just realized I forgot to tell everyone two things.

One: does everyone remember when Sakura was all emo, and she had hung a little doll of herself by a kunai? Yeah, well, I got that idea from one of the early Naruto chapter covers. Can't remember which one, but one had her with mini dolls of her, Naruto, and Sasuke. She was holding the Sasuke and Naruto dolls, while rubbing the Sasuke one with her cheek. That's where that one came from.

Two: for everyone who thought Sasuke was ooc back in chapter three, where he threatened to rape, train, and sell Sakura, that wasn't him really intending to do what he was talking about, it was more like... you know when there's the older brother and the younger brother, and the older is consistently better than the younger, but one day the younger gets the upper hand and struts around like he owns the place? Sasuke played the older brother, not only crushing him under heel so he knew his place, but doing everything he could to upset him. he never actually meant any of it, but Naruto didn't know that.

So, on to the chapter! … I miss monkey 3000…

* * *

"…" Rogue stared at a door, irritation evident on her face. Naruto stood beside her, a small smile across his lips as he watched the same door. 'Why couldn't we go tomorrow?' the white-streaked brunette thought, glancing over to the scarred blonde beside her, 'Something romantic is supposed to happen on the first day, isn't it?' He was completely oblivious to her mood and thoughts, if his clueless face was any indication to go by.

A sound drew Rogue's attention back to the door; the doorknob turned, and the door pulled back, unleashing a wave of cool air, and two curious brown eyes dissolved into view. "Naruto-kun?" the raven-haired teen asked, pulling the door open a little more as she completely took in the two figures in the hallway… well, mainly Naruto, Rogue was given nothing more than a second glance.

"Hey, Haku," Naruto greeted cheerfully, grinning and locking his fingers together behind his head, "how have you been since you've come to Konoha?"

Haku smiled, waving them in through the now completely open door. "I've been fine, but come in; talking inside would be more comfortable, would it not?" she offered. Naruto took her offer, bowing before entering the house (Ayame's etiquette lessons). Rogue came in right behind him as he removed his sandals, but skipped the bow. "And what brings you here today, Naruto-kun?" Haku asked after shutting the door behind them, heading into the kitchen after inquiring about Naruto's unexpected presence.

"Well, I met your dad today, and he asked me to see how you were doing," Naruto informed, taking a seat at the kitchen table Haku gestured him to. Rogue followed, sitting beside him as Haku entered the kitchen.

"Zabuza-sama?" Haku asked, never hearing someone else call him what she secretly thought of him as. A nod from Naruto confirmed it, and she smiled, looking down to the floor with a calm, but cheerful expression. After a moment of floor-gazing, she looked up to her two guests. "So what about you, Naruto-kun, how have you been?"

"I'm fine, I guess. I haven't had any problems like in the forest anymore," Naruto begun, causing Rogue's eyebrows to draw together slightly as she wondered what encounter they had before now. "I was going to come see you after you had a few days to settle in, anyway," Naruto continued, crossing his arms as he spoke, "but Sakura-chan had been kidnapped, so it was kind of hectic the past few days, you know?"

"Kidnapped?" Haku gasped out, her mouth falling open and her eyes widening as she stared at him, "what are you doing here? She's one of your precious people, is she not? You should be trying to find her!"

Naruto smiled, chuckling softly. "No, we already found her; she's fine now, I was able to heal all of her injuries. She's in the hospital, but Anko-sensei insisted I let her sleep and go somewhere so she can rest a bit before she goes home."

Haku nodded, sighing through her nose as she visibly relaxed. "That's good to hear; I'm glad she's okay," the dark-haired teen said, turning to the counter and searching through her cabinets for something. "So, did anything else happening?" she asked, her back to the pair at the table, her hair flowing down to cover most of her back.

"Ah became his first girlfriend today," Rogue offered from her chair, looking up with slight irritation at the long-haired teen.

Haku's head twitched to the side slightly, her cabinet-riffling movements halting as she froze momentarily. "… Oh?" Haku asked, resuming her movement by closing the cabinet door and turning to face her company, staring at Rogue for several seconds, then sliding her gaze to Naruto, a smile sliding unto her face. "I'm happy for you, Naruto-kun, she seems like a nice girl."

Rogue nodded absently, not really wanting to be there any longer than she already had. "Uh-huh. We became official on the hospital roof earlier today."

"Wow," Haku started, her voice raising a pitch, "that was fast, huh?" Rogue blinked twice in quick succession, watching the raven-haired teen curiously. "You've only known him for, what, a week?" Rogue's eyebrow twitched slightly, truly irritated green eyes clashing with falsely joyful brown ones. "And it seems, from what you've told me, that your teammate was recovered only today; I'm surprised one could even propose such a hasty engagement, and within merely hours of an event as unnerving as potentially losing a precious person."

"Um…" Naruto said softly, pausing briefly as he thought over the unexpected barrage of words, "It's fine, it wasn't really too fast," Naruto explained, but wasn't able to finish, as Rogue took it upon herself to finish for him.

"We have a connection," Rogue started, lacing around his hand with gloveless fingers before speaking again, "a connection deeper than most can even begin ta understand."

"Uh…" Naruto mumbled, unsure why Rogue was talking almost like she was mad, "Yeah, it's like that."

"Oh, I'm sure," Haku replied, a slight sarcastic tone that only a girl could pick up (like, those subtle things that us guys completely miss), "I' m surprised, though; one with such a deep connection, it seems odd that you would pick the very day his teammate was rescued to make your relationship 'official'. It just seemed perhaps you were rushing so as not to fall short to someone better suited for the job, it wasn't that I was insinuating you were easy." Rogue clenched her fist, the hand not wrapped around Naruto's hand, as she glared at the girl who wore a smug smirk.

"Oh, no," Naruto said with a strange smile, unsure why the last comment was said, "no one else likes me like that; barely anyone even tolerates me."

"Besides," Rogue added, picking up where Naruto left off in a faintly amused tone, "who else could Na'to choose? He likes girls, not boys." A direct stab at Haku, with the only one not seeing the hit being Naruto, and a dangerous silence fell over the table. Rogue was smiling slightly in a victorious manner, Haku had closed her eyes, smiling at Rogue and tilting her head slightly, and Naruto was quiet, trying to understand what happened and why he felt like talking was a bad idea.

Haku smiled a little wider, and turned back to the cabinets. "Would you two like some ice-cream?" she asked calmly.

"Yeah, I'll have some," Naruto accepted happily, smiling as the memory of the last time he had ice cream with Ayame-nee-chan floated into his mind. Rogue said nothing, not wanting to accept such an offer from Haku, but Naruto noticed. "Aren't you going to have any Rogue? It's really good!"

Rogue was quiet for another second, thinking about the memory she just picked up from Naruto, then agreed. "Sure. I'll have some," she agreed in a curt tone, smiling at Naruto.

Haku opened the fridge, and made three servings of ice cream with the three small bowls she grabbed from the cabinets, and turned to the table, shutting the fridge as she spun around. "Oh… Rogue-chan, are you sure you will be able to handle the cold? I keep my apartment at a low temperature, and that on top the cold ice-cream and your lack of… _insulated_ clothing, will you be alright?"

"Nah, ah'm actually a little warm," the green and yellow clad girl explained with a smirk, taking off her ninja vest and fanning herself a bit, "ice-cream would be _perfect _right about now."

Haku smiled as she placed the three bowls on the table, spoons sticking out the top of each bowl's ice cream. "Oh good, I wouldn't want you to catch a cold," Haku explained, watching as Naruto's girlfriend grabbed the bowl, taking up a spoon of ice cream. Haku inhaled slowly, and exhaled at the same pace, a light blue coming from her lips aimed at the white-streaked brunette.

"Mmm," Rogue hummed as she tasted the creamy milk chocolate ice cream (… now I want ice cream…). She blinked a few times, then pulled on the spoon. It didn't move. "Mmmm," she grunted in annoyance, tugging the spoon a bit harder. It didn't move. "Mmmmh!" she grunted louder, this time in frustration and anger. Her lips were sealed around the spoon, and her eyes took on the look of a crazed mental patient as she tugged on the spoon. It didn't move.

"Huh?" Naruto said, looking up from his already half-eaten ice cream. "What… what're you doing Rogue?" he asked, watching as she begun yanking on the spoon. Her jade eyes swung on him, her crazed look switching out for a meeker one. She blushed slightly, tugging on the spoon even harder, attempting to quickly right this embarrassing position she was in.

"Oh, what's wrong Rogue? You have to open your mouth first," Haku commented in an amused tone, putting a spoon of ice cream in her mouth, then sliding the spoon slowly through her lips, taunting Rogue with each movement.

Rogue shot her a glare, tugging the spoon a little harder. "Mmm! Mmm, mmm!" Rogue grunted, watching as Haku brought another spoon of ice cream to her mouth.

"Um… do you need some help, Rogue?" Naruto asked, putting his spoon down to give Rogue his full attention. She blushed a little more, switching out her yanking movements for prying motions as she attempted to force her lips apart.

"Naruto-kun," Haku started, causing the blonde to look to her, seeing she had moved into the kitchen, "it was nice having you here, but I must go; I have ninja business to attend to: I am being assigned a mission, but you are always welcome here, and I would appreciate any future visits." She had leaned back on the counter, revealing a pot she had just put on the stove, "With or without any of your friends." The last comment earned her a threatening and red-faced glare from Rogue, yanking on the spoon once more.

* * *

After the hot water had been readied, and applied to Rogue's problem, Haku ushered them out of her apartment. Haku left towards the Hokage tower, while Naruto and Rogue headed to Rogue's new apartment, one she and her friends had gotten with their new ninja funds. The new couple walked quietly, Rogue not saying anything, and Naruto giving her space.

After a few minutes of walking, Rogue spoke up. "Na'to, what happened between you an' that girl in the forest?" she asked, looking over to him as he seemed to be staring blankly ahead, a dead look in his eyes. "…N-Na'to?" she called, but he made no response, he just kept walking forward in an almost zombie-type march. She reached out and grabbed his hand with her right hand (her gloveless hand, as she kept it without it's glove for their entire walk for easy skin contact hand-holding), and they both stopped walking.

Naruto flinched into awareness, snapping his eyes to the alien feeling of Rogue's hand. "What?" he asked, his face making an unnatural looking change into his normal cheerful expression as he looked up from her hand to her face.

"… What was that, Na'to?" she asked, looking seriously into his panicky eyes, "Ya looked… ah don't know, but ya scared me for a second."

Naruto tried one of his chuckles, but it came out sounding weird. "U-um… d-did I zone out?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else, looking down to his feet.

"Y-yeah, ya kinda just spaced out for a minute." Naruto snapped his head up to her like he forgot she was there and didn't know who was talking. He exhaled a sharp sigh, wiped some moisture off his forehead, and took a deep breath. After the breath, Naruto seemed more like his usual self. "Mind tellin' me exactly what that was just now?"

"Yeah," Naruto started, sounding like his normal self again, and continuing to walk forward, "I zone out sometimes… it's weird, but I don't think I've ever really done it near someone else like that…"

"…" Rogue just stared at him, following him as he wiped some more of the moisture that had formed on his face away with his sleeve. "Why did ya panic like that? I've never seen ya like that before."

Naruto sighed, looking thoughtfully at the road ahead of them. "Maybe… I've never been around anyone when I zone out, so no one has ever interrupted me like that; maybe that's why I was weird." Rogue nodded, a few images from Naruto's memories flashing through her mind. Almost like it was a ritual, in every memory she had of his in the morning, or before he left his apartment, he fell into that zombie-state, then calmed himself before going outside.

'It's almost… it's almost like he puts on a mask everyday…' she thought, bringing her right hand up to caress his cheek, "… Everyday, and no one knows the real you…" she continued aloud, the words causing Naruto to flinch away slightly.

Naruto's eyes took to the floor, averting Rogue's to the best of his ability. Several more image's of Naruto's morning routine flooded her mind, with Naruto actively thinking about his ritual.

Rogue's eyes widened slightly as his unspoken thoughts seeped into her mind, and she brought her other hand to his other cheek. Naruto's eyes snapped to her, and she kissed him. Naruto stiffened up, almost like he was paralyzed, until Rogue pulled away. "Na'to, ah'm not leavin' ya, not for as long as there's breath in mah lungs," she said, grabbing his hand and placing it on her chest, "not for as long as this heart still beats, Na'to, ah will never stop loving you: even if we break up, and no matter what ya could possibly do, ah will never stop."

Naruto's face darkened slightly, his recent dream floating to the surface of his mind, the thrill he knew the other him felt as he choked the last breath from her lungs, as he put a permanent stop to the beat of her heart. Rogue gasped and widened her eyes at the memory she just received. 'Of course she will,' Naruto thought to himself, and her lips pushed upwards in anger, 'who would still care after—' Naruto thought, but his thought process halted as a sharp sting went through his cheek, his face whipping away from Rogue at an incredible speed. He stayed there, absolutely stunned by what just happened, until a metallic taste swam out onto his tongue.

"Think somethin' stupid like that again," Rogue vented through clenched teeth, pointing her finger at Naruto's face, "and even ya healin' powers won't be enough ta piece ya back together!" Naruto could only blink at Rogue's extreme reaction to something as simple as expecting her to leave. He turned his face back to look at her; she seemed to be very upset, her eyes shimmering slightly with tears in the warm orange light of dusk.

After several seconds of glaring, Rogue closed her eyes, turning from Naruto and wiping the beads of tears that formed at the corners of her eyes. She reached her hand back to him, looking at him over her shoulder. "Come on, ya still walking me home, aren't ya?" she asked, bringing a smile to Naruto's face. He took her hand, walked beside her, and planted a kiss on her cheek. Green eyes flicked to the blushing blonde, blinking a few times before setting on the road ahead of them again.

* * *

They continued forward, heading towards Rogue's apartment once more, in a very comfortable silence, each of them just enjoying each other's presence. As they approached the house, Rogue broke the silence. "Na'to, now that we're dating, some things have come ta mah attention," the white-streaked brunette started, drawing Naruto's attention.

"Yeah? What is it?" Naruto asked, taking a step away from her to fully acknowledge her presence, while still keeping her hand in his.

"Yeah, ah'm gonna need ya ta not hang around that Hako girl, or whatever her name is, without me with you… As a matter of fact," she continued, remembering seeing Ino all over him in one of his recent memories, Ami's date, and Hinata's fondness of her blonde-haired boyfriend, "ya can't see any girls without me there."

"?" Naruto's confusion was obvious on his face. "Why? How? I have three girls on my team, I have to go to team training and missions or I will get in trouble."

Rogue exhaled sharply, trying to figure out a way of explaining it without alerting Naruto to the other girls feelings. The less he knew about their more… romantic feelings, the better. '… Actually, this might cause Naruto a bit of trouble, he considers some of these girls family…' she thought, then her face popped with enlightenment as she saw the way out of this problem, a wide fox-like grin splitting her face after the new idea panned out perfectly in her mind. "Never mind, Na'to," she said, taking a step closer to him, "It's alright, it aint a problem no more."

"That's good," Naruto said, breathing a sigh of relief, "I wasn't sure how I was going to stay away from girls like that, but I didn't want to upset you."

Rogue smiled. "Ya thought ya could get away with it, didn't ya?" she asked, causing Naruto's face to shift into a confused expression.

"Huh? Get away with what?" he asked, looking up slightly into her eyes (he's short).

She took a step closer, causing her chest to press against his, and causing a slight blush on Naruto's face. She leaned in and kissed him on the lips, causing his eyes to slide happily into a lazy, half closed state. "Get away with that weak peck on the cheek," she whispered sexily to deaf ears, as Naruto was temporarily stunned.

Naruto's ears eventually picked up on the words, his brain on the postponed message, and his cheeks on the delayed blush. "O-oh…" he mumbled, scratching his burning cheek with his index finger.

Rogue grinned wide at his reaction, hugging him tightly, his adorable actions overwhelming her. Naruto hugged her back, only a moment after he got over the initial surprise of the heartfelt embrace of his new girlfriend.

They separated after several seconds, Rogue placing another kiss on his lips, one smaller and shorter than the last. A peacefully pleased expression settled gently onto Rogue's face. "Will ah see ya tomorrow, Na'to?" she whispered her question, slipping her hand out of his as she backed to her apartment.

"Yeah," he replied, grinning through the blush that seemed to be etched into his features, "It's a promise of a lifetime!"

Rogue giggled at his silly, overzealous promise, then turned into the door leading to her apartment. She opened the door, and as she looked into her apartment, she saw Luffy and Ichigo sit down on the couch placed in the living room.

They looked nervous, and seemed to have been in motion only an instant before she set eyes on them. "… What're ya'll doin'?" she asked, shutting the door behind her as she slipped out of her sandals, never taking her eyes off of the couch-bound teens.

Neither said anything, trying and failing miserably to look innocently natural. Rogue stepped into the room, looking around, and she saw one of the windows had blinds that were a little out of place. She looked back to the two on the couch, and Luffy cracked. "It was Strawberry's idea!" he blurted out hurriedly, pointing to his partner in crime.

"What!" Ichigo shouted, turning to his couch buddy, "Dumb ass, don't blame it all on me!"

"She was gonna find out we were watching her anyway!" Luffy shouted back. Rogue's eyes narrowed on her companions, her lips shriveling up in controlled anger.

"DUMB ASS!" Ichigo shouted at Luffy, "She wouldn't have known that part unless you told her!"

After a moment of quiet, both teens turned to their fuming friend. "Luffy, Ichigo," she started slowly, breathing out calmly and smiling, "Ya'll are lucky ah'm in a good mood." Both of them sigh heavily, feeling that their meager existences had just been spared, but then Rogue started talking again. "Both of ya, get dressed, we're going out."

"Huh? Why?" Luffy asked, earning him a death glare from Rogue.

"Because it's either that, or ah'll have strawberry an' monkey slippers after ah shove mah foot up your asses for spying on a private moment."

Luffy opened his mouth, attempting to say 'but it wasn't a private moment, you were outside,' but Ichigo dove across the couch to clasp his hand over the idiot's mouth. "Shut up!" Ichigo hissed at Luffy, who seemed to have forgotten Rogue was pissed not two seconds ago.

Rogue grinned as she headed into her room. "Be ready before ah get out, ah want ta leave soon."

* * *

Rogue, Ichigo, and Luffy stood in the middle of a star-and-moon lit road, staring at a building.

"Alright… I get why you wanted to come here," Ichigo started, staring up at the restaurant standing before him, "but why are you bringing us?"

"Because ah enjoy ya company. Now quit ya belly aching, and come on." Rogue marched into the restaurant, with her two companions obediently in tow. As they entered the restaurant, they saw the place was fairly crowded, most of the booths being occupied.

Rogue walked down one of the isles, finding the table she was looking for, and stood before it in a superior manner, her hands on her hips and a proud smile on her lips.

"Rogue?" Sakura asked, looking up from her conversation to see the smug kunoichi standing before her table, "What are you doing here?"

Tenten, Ami, and Ino looked up as well, being the only other patrons at the table. "Hey," Ino started loudly, "Your tha' gurl who almos' got into it wit' Kiba!" she finished, slurring her words a 'bit' as she spoke.

Ami looked back to Ino with concern. "Maybe we should stop letting her drink more than one or two cups; she's a light-weight. I'm tired of carrying her home."

"Yeah, I think your right," Sakura assented, glancing over to Ino quickly before giving Rogue her full attention.

"… Where's the shy one with the eyes?" Rogue asked, looking around the room, then back to the girls, "Kurenai-sensei said ya'll meet here, so where is she?"

"She said something happened at home, and she couldn't make it," Tenten explained, taking a sip of her sake.

"… alright then, ah'll talk ta her later," Rogue mentally noted aloud, then looked back to the table of kunoichi. "Anyway, ah'm here ta tell ya ah'm dating Na'to. So, if ya know what's good for ya, ya'll better keep ya distance, he's mine an' ah aint fittin' ta share."

She said it to the whole table, but Rogue's gaze was locked onto Ami the entire time.

"Wh… Wh-what do we care?" Sakura asked, raising her voice unintentionally.

Ami said nothing, Tenten just smirked, and Ino was wobbling slightly as she gazed drunkenly at Rogue, giggling slightly at how funny her jacket looked.

"Whatever, forehead, ah'm just givin' ya'll your only warning: ya won't get a second one."

"Can we go home now?" Ichigo asked, tugging at the collar of his ninja suit, "It's hot and stuffy in here… it smells like ass and regret." Tenten's eyes widened as she watched him, but she said nothing.

"Yeah, ah'm done, lets go home," Rogue said, turning to leave the restaurant, Luffy and Ichigo following her out.

The four girls sat quietly for a minute, then Tenten got up, running after the departing teens. "Hold up!" she called after them, stopping them as they reached the front of the restaurant.

"What is it?" Luffy asked as he saw her, bouncing on his heels a bit as he spoke.

"You," the dual bun-haired girl said, pointing at Ichigo, "You're a Nagamaki, right?"

The three teens looked surprised at the girls accurate guess. "Uh… yeah, how'd you know?" Ichigo asked, shifting his weight to his left foot and folding his arms as he watched her.

Tenten reached her hand towards him, grabbing his collar and pulling it down a bit. The top of the unveiled undershirt sported a badge. The badge that had a picture of a spear surrounded by three flames: the spear was pointing down towards the left of the badge diagonally, with three flames around it, two below the spear, and one above it.

"That's the Nagamaki clan symbol," she said, letting go of his shirt so he could fix it. "Can you help me?" Tenten asked, taking a small step backwards, "Nagamaki's are excellent blacksmiths, and I am having trouble with something I'm working on. I need a Nagamaki's help to get it done."

"Uh… well, I don't really—" Ichigo started, but stopped short with a jab in the side from Rogue.

"Of course Ichigo'll help ya!" Rogue cried out, nudging the bright haired swordsman towards the brunette.

Ichigo took a slow breath in, then whipped around on Rogue. "Whatareyoudoing!" he whisper-shouted at her very quickly, using a high-pitched tone as he mashed the words together as if they were one word.

"Ah'm helping summer's love blossom!" she whispered back, stunning the swordsman momentarily. Rogue had seen how the girl had just smiled when she mentioned dating Naruto, so she felt it was safe to assume she was uninterested.

"That doesn't even mean anything, and you know it!" he whispered aggressively at her, causing her to spin her comrade and push him towards the waiting girl.

Tenten took a step back as he was pushed towards her. "Don't get the wrong idea," she said sternly, pointing her finger at the unbalanced teen, "I just need help with making something."

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo mumbled, looking back as Rogue ran away with Luffy, effectively ditching him and subjecting him to helping someone he didn't even know.

"Alright, wait here, I'll be right back." Ichigo nodded, and Tenten ran back to the table.

"Tenten, what happened," Sakura asked, looking up to the beaming brunette.

"I just found someone to help me with those swords I was making!" she elated, explaining her good fortune to her friends.

"Oi, Tenten," Ino asked, standing up and grabbing her by the face, tilting her head downwards slightly, "since when did ya hav' a glowy forehead?"

"What?" Tenten asked, shifting her eyes from the table to the blonde.

"Ya got a red glowy forehead," Ino said, jabbing her in the forehead with a boney finger, hitting right where Tenten's forehead scar was, right above her eyebrow.

"What are you talking about," Tenten muttered, pulling away, apparently done with being man handled by the drunken kunoichi. "Is my forehead glowing?" she asked, turning to the two less-inebriated kunoichi.

"No," Ami and Sakura denied simultaneously, looking to their sake cups after a moment.

"Maybe someone slipped her something," Ami wondered, looking to the sitting-once-more teen.

"… Well, I don't feel anything," Tenten mused aloud before shaking her head, "Never mind that: hand me my purse please, I'm going home."

"You're going home?" Sakura asked as she grabbed and handed over Tenten's purse, "Did something happen?"

"Yeah, I found someone to help me making those swords I was talking about!" she elated, shouldering her purse as she turned towards the front of the restaurant and headed towards where she left Ichigo.

* * *

"Danzo-sama," a man's voice sounded throughout the small torch-lit room, "Have you read today's report?"

The old man looked up, peering into the shadows the voice sounded from, waving his hand towards the voice in a 'come here' gesture. A root member stepped forward. This man was familiar, being Danzo's most trusted operative, and he stood at attention before Danzo's desk. "Yes, I have. It is without a doubt Inoichi will find something within the Uchiha."

"Am I to take him out?" the man asked, tilting his mask down slightly to meet with Danzo's eye.

"No, of course not," the elderly, one-eyed man denied sharply, "if he is killed, they will just ensure the safety of the next mind-walker."

"Do you see a way out, Danzo-sama?" the masked man asked, his mind being incredibly nervous and anxious, despite his body showing none of it.

"…" Danzo was quiet for a moment, then begun writing on a scroll. He handed it to the man, then handed the man a vanilla envelope, containing several papers. Finally, he stood up, grabbing a folder he was looking at earlier as he stood, and handed it to the man. "There is only one way out: We've found the whereabouts of the escaped prisoner, the woman threatening to reveal us. The details are in the folder. Give her the scroll and envelope. You are to make no threatening moves on her, nor are you to insult her in anyway."

"Yes, Danzo-sama," the man whispered, falling back into the shadows.

"…" Danzo sat quietly in the low light of the torch, staring at his desk, thinking about how to force her to help when she inevitably refused.

* * *

They reached the house. It was a two-story house, painted a nice blue with black outlines (like, the windows, the door, the water drain, etc.). Ichigo, as he approached the house, noticed the mailbox. It read "Tenten", but there was something written beneath it, seemingly the clan name that had originally adorned the mailbox. Now, however, it had black paint stricken through it, preventing Ichigo from telling what her clan name was. 'Oh well,' Ichigo mentally shrugged it off, 'not like it's important.'

"Here we are!" Tenten chirped happily, grabbing Ichigo by the hand and dragging him into her home. Ichigo groaned as she dragged him through her door.

Ichigo looked up, and saw a hallway leading straight down from the door. There was the section for shoes right at the front, which Ichigo noted only had her shoes. As he looked up, he saw three doorways on the walls leading up to a larger room at the end of the hall. Ichigo kicked his sandals off just in time to be grabbed again.

"Come on!" Tenten cheered energetically, dragging him down the hall. They passed each of the rooms connected to the hall until they reached the end, coming out into a large room decorated with weapons of many varying types. At the left hand side of the room, a smelter was set up, along with all the tools and materials needed to make weapons.

"Woah… this is amazing," Ichigo said, looking across all of the weapons that seemed to bathe in the warm orange light produced by the fires burning in the smelter.

"Yeah, the ones on that wall were made by my mother," she explained, pointing to the wall with the most weapons of seemingly the highest grade, "my father," she added, pointing to the wall that was a close second in both quantity and quality, "and me," she finished, pointing to the seemingly ill-equipped wall. The wall seemed ill-equipped, but that's only in comparison to the two grander walls. In all reality, it was an excellent wall for someone her age, with seemingly no master by the look of the lack of shoes (blacksmiths normally live with masters when they are apprentices… I think…).

"That's funny," Ichigo said with a frown, looking down to her from the walls, "these walls are set up like they are in a traditional Nagamaki house."

"Obviously, I am a Nagamaki after all. Didn't I tell you that?" Tenten asked, moving over to the smelter.

"… No… you left that part out…" Ichigo whispered to himself, hesitantly walking towards the smelter.

"Here's what I'm making," Tenten explained, pointing to two blades on the iron. They looked a little rough, but they were obviously in their early stages of development. The sword was black, while the blade was red.

"… That's very unique material…" Ichigo mumbled.

Tenten nodded her assent. "Yeah, it is. It was left to me after my parents died. There was a journal my father kept that I got as well, and one of it's last pages talked about this. It was apparently some sort of meteor he and his brother found."

A strange, familiar voice roused in the back of Ichigo's mind. "_Kha~ ha ha ha kha ha kha ha!" _the laugh echoed through his skull. He reached his hand up, gripping the handle of his sword tightly. The laugh stopped, but Ichigo could feel he was still there. Just watching.

"Ichigo?" Tenten called to the zoned out looking swordsman, "Are you alright?"

"Uh… yeah, I'm fine. So," he started, taking his sword off and placing in the corner of the room, the furthest he could get it away from the still-in-production swords, "you wanted my help with making those two swords?"

"Yeah. Why, is that a problem?" Tenten asked, causing the orange-haired Nagamaki to shake his head.

After a second, Ichigo approached the two swords, placing his hands on the blades. Silence. 'Good, no one's there this time.' "Yeah, I'll help you make them. Let's get to it."

"… Are you sure you're alright? You seem a little out of it," Tenten pointed out, knelling down by the blades and placing her hands on them.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

* * *

Ichigo helped Tenten with the two swords all through the night. He had felt compelled to, whether it was his own sword demanding it be done, the new swords calling to him, or his own sense of guilt that kept him helping the brown-haired Nagamaki, he didn't know.

As the sun began to rise, the Nagamaki pair decided to call it a day, and come back to it tomorrow. Ichigo grabbed his sword from the corner of the room, where it had stayed the entire time, regardless of how much it felt like it was inching towards the orange-haired blacksmith, and headed home.

"I'll probably come back later today to help you with them again," Ichigo told Tenten as he left the house.

"Sweet, I'll be done in no time with your help. Thank you for—" she started, but halted abruptly when an ANBU ninja landed behind Ichigo.

"Don't move, Nagamaki Ichigo," the Dog faced ANBU said calmly, "We'd rather take you without a struggle."

"… what's going on?" Ichigo asked, staying calm and not turning to face the female ninja.

"You are being arrested for 67 counts of murder at the incident known as "The Nagamaki Massacre," please come quietly."

Author's Box

* * *

What! What! What! Yeah, that just happened. Not that it was worth three 'What!'s, but still, that was pretty cool. Well, I think so. Ichigo stole this chapter's end, but he isn't done. No, not anywhere close to done. I think he might take up the next two chapters. There'll be a flash back next chapter, I think. Also, we'll see someone we haven't seen in a while, but most won't notice it. I think. I may be underestimating my readers, but whatever. Also, the thing about Tenten being a Nagamaki, I didn't just pull that out my ass, I told you guys she was a Nagamaki in chapter one. Then, like, five chapters ago, I told everyone to go back and check it, but I don't think anyone noticed it. Uhhhh… so, yeah, I was going to do some comedy routine or asking about getting a review, like I do almost every chapter, but I can't think of anything… huh… well, maybe a few reviews will help me for next chapter. Ha! You thought I had nothing!

* * *

Omake: Twilight Zone, Dattebayo~! (this has no relation to anything this chapter, or any other chapter)

Anko was walking down the street, heading to her home away from home, "Akashi's". they had the best dango in Konoha. On her way, she saw Naruto walking down the street happily, grinning at everyone he passed on the way. It was strange… he was wearing his old orange and blue outfit again

"Hey, brat, what are you so happy about?" she called, causing Naruto to turn to her.

"Yo, Anko! How are you, dattebayo!" Naruto hollered loudly, jogging up to her.

"… What did you call me?" Anko asked, looking down at the more energetic than usual Naruto.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, tilting his head slightly, "Your names not Anko, dattebayo?"

"… okay Naruto, what's wrong with you," Anko asked, crouching down in front of him.

"What do you mean, dattebayo," Naruto asked, grinning and raised his voice to high-pitched, annoying level, "I'm always like this!"

"Alright," Anko started, grabbing the short blonde by the jacket and lifting him into the air, "What's wrong with you? what happened, why are you acting like this."

"Ahhh! Help, sensei, someone! She won't let go!" he hollered, wriggling around like a worm.

She threw him to the ground. "Shut up, will you! God, your giving me a headache!" Anko hissed, holding her head as she closed her eyes.

"Anko-sensei?" Naruto called from behind her. she turned around to see a more familiar Naruto, clad in red and black, staring up at her curiously, "What's going on?" he asked in a much calmer than his brightly outfitted counterpart.

"… huh?" Anko said, turning back to the Naruto she had been previously talking to, and he was gone. "…" Anko turned back to Naruto, the most recent to arrive, and he raised an eyebrow. "Did you see me talking to anyone?"

"Uh, yeah, you were talking to some kid in bright orange. He was really loud, did you know him?"

"Uh… I'm… I'm not entirely sure…" Anko said, looking back down to where she had thrown the loud blonde.


	24. No More Team Naruto?

hey peoples... sorry, but no, this isn't an update. i'm not sure when, if ever, i can update this or strongest love. you see, my beloved laptop was K.I.A. (god bless his soul). and with him, he took a majority (about 8k words or so) of the new chapter for Team Naruto (along with the 10k word long blueprint i had for all the characters and events), and roughly half of Strongest Love. now, you might remember in the "Scattered Clues" chapter, the scene with hinata and naruto, i told you the computer killed some of the information when it rebooted. that wasn't just a 'i couldn't re-write it exactly' moment, it was very difficult because... well, i'm not sure if other people do it, or if i'm unique/weird, but i go into a sort of trance when i start typing, watching from the back of my mind almost as the story play out as the characters want it to. i am unable to replicate the feelings of the characters, i don't entirely remember writing most of the scenes, and i hate doing things over again... now that i think about it, i was probably only able to re-write that hinata scene (being able to overlook the fact that it wasn't the way it was supposed to be (i'm very critical of those things, everything has to be the way it was supposed to be)) was because of the doubt i had about rogue and co. being bad ideas getting slashed, receiving many reviews, pm's, and votes telling me the contrary. well, this little depression i have going on right now about losing that story might ensure that i won't be able to write anything anymore, cause that' show it feels right now, but hopefully i'll be able to... i don't know, something. well, actually, someone wanted to make a story with me, but he hasn't got back to me yet. when he does, that'll probably be the only chance to reignite the spark of my inner author's soul (the reason i call it my inner author is because i feel that i'm not really an author, something inside me is).


	25. 21 Reintroduction

Hello, Team Naruto fans! I'm back! And, I have a special announcement! I have gained some control over my inner author! It wasn't easy, but I have rebuilt my lost chapter (which is backed up in three different locations, just in case)! I wasn't able to get the old chapter off my hard drive, so I was forced to re-write it. So, there may be a few points where it seems awkward to read because I was trying to get the author juices flowing again. Oh, and for this chapter, we're going to see someone no one seemed to approve of with her first appearance. Sorry if it offends you, but she has been in my story since its creation. And no, she doesn't have supernatural powers; I'll explain it at author's note. Now! Without further adeu! After nearly three months of being out of commission, Team Naruto is back in action! Boo-Ya!

"Nagamaki Ichigo, I trust you know why you're here." As the Hokage spoke, Ichigo nodded slowly, a forlorn look on his face as he lowered his gaze down to the shackles which now bound him.

"You are here for your past crimes, 67 counts of murder," he explained anyway. "Murders that, to our knowledge, didn't seem to have been agitated in any way shape or form: you can understand my concern for the villagers and ninja who live here, in my village."

"Yes, sir. I understand."

"… Well, Nagamaki Ichigo," the Hokage started after a brief pause, looking to his fellow judges, among them including clan heads and village council members, then out to the visitor's gallery gathered to watch the trial. "We give everyone a chance to explain themselves here. Even for crimes as monstrous as this. Do you have any explanation for your actions? Or perhaps you could describe what happened that day, maybe at the very least you won't be remembered as a monster by everyone who hears your name."

"I'm sorry… I have no explanation or justification for my actions…" he admitted, looking back to the villagers gathered to watch the trial to find an upset looking Tenten glaring at him. He closed his eyes, then faced the judges once more. "But maybe I can explain what happened. Maybe I can give those who were affected some closure…"

Flash Back: 6 years ago

"Ichigo!" a male voice echoed through the dark, empty home. "Ichigo, are you up? Get down here, I have something for you!"

The house remained still, except for the older man dragging a large rock through the house, leaving black scratches on the wooden floor it was dragged over. The only light in the house was from the smelter in the main room. After making it to the smelting room with the rock, the man stood and called again.

"Ichigo, come on, get down here!" A heavy silence was his answer. The man sighed, his face drooping into a mournful expression for a moment before he headed back to the front door.

Across from the door was a flight of stairs heading up to the second floor of the house. The man ascended the stairs tentatively, pausing briefly every other step until he reached the second floor. The second floor was darker than the first. Some might've argued that it was because the lack of any light source on that floor, but the man had no doubt the second floor would be just as dark if all the lights were on.

"Son…" the man started as he approached his son's room. He pushed the door open to see darkness pierced only by the light blue rays of the moon. The only way he could tell his son was there was by the orange hair just barley captured by the moonlight.

"Son, I know you're… well, I know it's rough on you. It's rough on all of us, but it's really tough on you… we all loved her, son, but she wouldn't want us burdened by what happened. You especially, she would have never wanted you to feel an ounce of pain for what happened."

The boy made no reaction at first, but after a few moments he lowered his head a bit. "Come down stairs, son. I have a present for you, something to help cheer you up." The boy made no reaction at first, but after a few moments he stood up.

"… O… Okay…" Ichigo answered softly. He wiped at his face with his right sleeve before turning around. His moonlit silhouette moved slowly towards the door, where his father was now walking away from.

He followed his father down the stairs, and into the smelter room.

"There it is," the father explained, gesturing to the large black rock sitting in the middle of the room.

"… It's a… rock…?" the small, orange-haired boy observed, sounding a bit confused.

"No, it's not just a rock. It's a piece of metal that fell from the sky: a meteor. Now… I remember you saying at her funeral that you wanted to become a strong swordsman."

Ichigo nodded slowly, lowering his eyes to the floor.

"Well, this will be your first sword!" the father proclaimed cheerfully, taking a step towards his son. "And you…" he started, clasping his hand down on Ichigo's shoulder, "you're going to make it!"

"B-but…" Ichigo mumbled, looking up to the rock in confusion.

"I know what you're thinking," the father said, nodding his head a bit before continuing. "Our clan laws state you have to be 12 before you can start weapons training, or blacksmith training. But, I've already talked to everyone. All of the elders, along with the clan head and a majority of the lesser clan members have agreed to allow you to begin now, with what has recently happened, on the condition that I watch over you every time you do weapons training."

"… Really?" Ichigo asked, his voice sounding brighter than it had been for the past two months.

"Yeah. I also got them to allow you to work on your sword on your own. That way you'll have something to do while I'm at work." His father was a traveling merchant, selling various weapons and ninja tools out of his oversized backpack at the center of whatever town he visited.

"When can I start?" Ichigo asked, his voice reflecting some of the excitement he was feeling.

"Tomorrow morning. I'll set you up, make sure you remember what to do and have all you're tools ready, then I'll head to work. When I come back, we can either start your sword training or I can help you make your sword."

"Okay."

"Alright now, get to bed. You have to wake up with me tomorrow morning," his father said as he headed for his bedroom.

Ichigo moved, to head for his bedroom too, but stopped cold, turning slightly toward the stone before making it out of the room. "…" Ichigo felt something, something indescribable, call out to him. What it said was unknown to the young Nagamaki, but the feeling it gave off was easier to make out. Strength. Somehow, without knowing anything about this piece of rock, or how it would be, if it even could be, forged into a weapon, he knew that it would make him stronger than he could possibly imagine. That feeling brought a sense of calm to the boy: that calm would let him sleep easy that night, unlike the countless, sleepless nights of the past few months.

_**A week later**_

Work on the sword went quickly, especially with Ichigo sacrificing his entire weapon training time in order to work on making the sword out of the meteor faster. So much so, that his father started to worry a bit. His son had been working non-stop on the sword, which any Nagamaki parent would have been proud to see, but something was off: Ichigo looked almost possessed as he worked on the sword, forgetting to eat and use the bathroom until he was dragged away from the Iron by his father.

Normally a father might seek some sort of help for their son with such troubling behavior, but this was not a normal situation. As opposed to the haunted look his son wore since his mother was murdered, possessed was an improvement. Of course, that didn't mean his father was at ease.

"I'm just starting to worry about him… something's not right, but I have no idea what it is, or how to fix it."

"Well," his brother began as he pondered his nephew's strange behavior, "maybe he's just pouring his grief into the blade. I think it might be a good thing; after finishing it, he'll be more like the old Ichigo you knew. I'm sure he just needs to let what he's feeling out, and this sword seems to be the perfect outlet. It's almost done though, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is… if you're right, then there are only a few more days before this is all over."

They both remained quiet for a moment, looking up and down the crowded plaza for merchants of all kinds. There were people trying to sell miracle potions (among them were potions for hair loss, sexual inadequacy, headaches, stupidity, weight loss, muscle increase, nagging wives and poison (… those last two aren't meant for the same thing… *cough*) etc.), food, armor, weapons, clothes, animal skins, fish, vegetables, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

"Hey, where's your daughter? Tenten always seemed so excited when you come to visit. She's always fascinated with these plazas, isn't she?"

"Yeah. She was really disappointed, but I had to leave her in Konoha."

"Why, what happened?" he asked with concern obvious in his voice.

"No, nothing happened; I just didn't feel safe bringing her this time. There have been more and more bandits showing up between here and Konoha, so I asked one of our neighbors to watch her until we get back."

"That's why you're only staying a few days for the family reunion?"

"Yeah. Two days until it starts… man, I'm missing my little girl already," he admitted with a sad smile on his face.

"Don't worry, you'll be on your way to see your little girl in no time, ya big softie."

The brother's continued to talk about various things that had happened to them, or things they've heard about until late in the afternoon.

_**2 days later, during the Nagamaki Family Reunion**_

Ichigo knelt in the blacksmithing room. Ichigo handled the blade. Ichigo hammered out the form of the blade. But Ichigo wasn't there. He was there, but elsewhere. The body of Nagamaki Ichigo is at the iron, forging the sword that he was told was destined for him, but his mind is here, in a (Litereally) sideways world that was said to be his inner mind. It would probably scare an ordinary person, but he has started to become comfortable in this sideways world, standing on these sideways buildings, talking to 'Him'. This isn't the first time he's been here, there have been countless visits. Whenever he begins work on making the sword in the real world, 'He' brings Ichigo here.

Ichigo stands on the sideways building, looking around, scanning the adjacent buildings for something, someone.

"How's it goin', 'King'!" 'His' voice greets in its normal, odd tone. 'His' voice is like hearing multiple people talk at the same time, and knowing that each and every one is the voice of a monster. Materializing in front of him was the person who said he lived inside the meteor, and Ichigo's closest friend. 'He', despite all of their time together, has yet to give his name.

"Hey," Ichigo replied happily, looking straight into eerily empty eyes. 'He' looks exactly like Ichigo, for a reason 'He' wouldn't explain, with only a few differences: He had unhealthy looking pale skin, white hair, black teeth, and white robes with black linings (as opposed to Ichigo's black robes with white linings).

"So, are we ready to pick off (not a typo) where we left last time? Tellin' me why ya want ta get stronger?"

Ichigo nods, takes a deep breath, then closes his eyes. The doppelganger mimics his actions. After a few minutes, 'His' laugh broke the silence.

"Kha~ ha ha ha kha ha kha ha!"

"It's not funny!" he yelled, glaring at his pale double.

"Yes it is! Look at ya, just sittin' there and cryin' through the whole thing!"

An expression of pain and anguish wash over his features, over the normally collected face of Nagamaki Ichigo.

"He hits ya once, and ya turn into a snivelin' little girl!"

"Shut up!" he cried out, anger starting to seep in to replace the pain. His trembling hands tighten into fists as tears start to build up behind his eyes.

"Look at ya, look at ya! Ya don't even lift a finger as this guy kills yer mother! Kha ha ha ha!"

His eyes fall to the floor, followed closely by tears, as the pain overtakes the anger again. _'__He's__right__… __I__was__pathetic__… __useless__… __a__coward__…'_

"Hmm, so this is yer reason! The reason ya wish ta become strong!"

"Yes… please, help me become strong!" he shouts, wiping the tears from his face with his right arm before looking up to the amused eyes of his living reflection. "So strong that I'll never have to watch someone I care about die again!"

"That's tha spirit, 'King'! I'll lend ya all of my power! Yer gonna become so strong that no one will even recognize ya anymore! Kha~ ha ha ha kha ha kha ha!"

"Y-you will? Thank you!"

"Khaaaa~hahahah! Yes! Well, it looks like you've finally finished makin' me! Open your eyes, and you'll be stronger than ya could'a ever imagined!"

With anticipation and hope, he opened his eyes.

The world seemed much darker than he remembered it, seeing as there was no light anywhere, not even from the smelter. And it stank. _'__What__is__that__smell?__'_ Starting to analyze his surroundings, he stared to notice a few things.

The first thing he noticed, aside from the aforementioned observations, was that something was on his face, which was likely the cause of the darkened view. He moved to grab at it with his right arm, but realized something else. He was holding something heavy; the handle of something heavy. _'A__… __a__sword__…__?__My__sword__…__?'_ he thought hesitantly, somehow almost fearful of being right.

Not being able to see too well because of whatever obstruction was attached to his face, he lifted his left arm to pull something that felt very much like a bone plate off his face: when turned around, he saw it was a very scary, somewhat enticing bone mask. The mask had red tribal markings on it, jagged teeth, a pointed chin, and was just big enough to fit his face.

After inspecting the mask for a few seconds, he looked down to the sword he was holding. His breath caught in his throat as he did. The normally black sword with a white blade was coated in a shiny red liquid. Red nearly enveloped the sword completely; rising up the blade, onto his hand, and reaching up passed his elbow.

A flickering light somewhere in his peripherals caught his attention. It was a knocked over torch, its flames fighting to stay alive in the icy night air. Looking across the large field surrounding him, he took notice of the countless bodies lying in the blood-red grass.

There's a low groan at his feet. It's his father, covered in blood.

Their eyes meet, and look of pure fear overtakes his face, and he screams a poor, gargled imitation of a scream as he tries to crawl away from his son.

"F-father?" Ichigo called out to him in disbelief at the surreal landscape painted around him. Before he can say anything more, his left arm raises the mask back up to his face; his right arm acts on its own as well, lifting the now weightless sword up overhead head. That's the last thing he sees before darkness takes him once more.

_**End Flash Back**_

_**The previous day (The day before Ichigo recalls these events)**_

Today had been rather eventful for the young Hyuuga princess. Her life had gradually been getting more and more exciting with each passing day ever since she had been put on a team with her (Relatively) secret crush. Today, however, had been one of the most excitable days in her life.

First, Naruto had, after waking from his mini coma, brought her along to rescue her other teammate, Sakura. Hinata didn't know the specifics of what happened after that, but when she woke up at the hospital with Naruto, Sakura, and her Sensei Anko, everyone seemed awkward. Sakura was covered in dirt and blood, with an unnervingly vacant look in her eyes, and had no clothing except for Naruto's jacket. Anko had tear stains on her face, and seemed uncharacteristically quiet. Naruto was also quiet, and seemed almost as distant as Sakura.

After that, Naruto and Anko had gone to the Hokage Tower to report Sakura's rescue in. While they were away, however, Sakura had fallen asleep and into some sort of nightmare. She was thrashing around and crying for parts of her sleep (if it could be called that), and other times she curled up and sobbed while saying almost unintelligible things: among them, from what Hinata could remember, were things like "It was my fault…", "Because of me…", "Do something!", "Move!", "I'm sorry…", "He's dead…", and a few other's that she could almost make out, but not quite.

Hinata tried to comfort her in her sleep, but that didn't work; she would either get hit by Sakura's thrashing, or her soothing actions had no effect. It got to the point where Hinata was worried she might hurt herself, so she decided to hit a few tenketsu points on her body that would allow her to sleep in a dreamless state of unconsciousness. And that is when Hinata saw the strangest thing she had seen since she had her first real team meeting.

Red chakra.

Or, at least, that's sure as hell what it looked like. To Hinata's knowledge, a person's chakra can't change color. You're born with the color/shade of chakra you're born with, and that's that. Now, Naruto was a rare case, being the first person Hinata had ever seen with red chakra (or even chakra of a different color), but she was told by the other Hyuuga that it was normal for him, and not to worry about it. Naruto's chakra was normally blue, but upon closer inspection of his naval chakra coils, there was a bit of red that seemed to always be trying to push its way out.

Now, back to Sakura; Hinata was sure she had blue chakra, and nothing else. Upon learning of the bit of red in Naruto's stomach, Hinata regularly checked the chakra of everyone she met to look for any bit of discolored chakra. The only people she had seen since then with any abnormal chakra or chakra traces had been Rouge, Ino, Ichigo, and Luffy (light red tint to her chakra, red chakra traces in her forehead, white chakra in the sword, and a purplish chakra, respectively).

'Well… now that I think about it,' Hinata mused as she approached her manor, 'maybe it's just people in Konoha that have blue chakra… maybe in different lands, it's normal for different colors… maybe to someone else, blue is abnormal…'

Hinata had been so lost in this new and intriguing train of thought that she had neglected to pay full attention to her surroundings; more specifically, the guards at the entrance of her home trying for her attention.

"Hinata-sama!" one of the guards, the female branch member, called in a slightly elevated tone, trying to get her attention while staying in her place as a branch member at the same time.

"H-huh?" Hinata gasped out in alarm, looking alert for a moment, then embarrassed at the fact she was caught spacing out.

"Hinata-sama," the other guard at the gate started, looking down to her with a sympathetic look in his eyes, "Hiashi-sama instructed us to escort you to your room when you arrived home."

"O-Otou-sama did?" Hinata whispered to herself. 'He... he has never done something like that before. He normally never even has time to talk to me, let alone interact with me. Even indirectly like this...'

She followed the two guards to her room, noticing that the halls were very empty for this time of day. Normally there would be somewhere around 6 or 7 people walking through the halls on the way to her room. She saw no one besides her escorts.

"Hiashi-sama said that you are to stay here until he sends for you..." the second guard said. She paused, like she wanted to say something more, but in the end she just turned and walked away with her fellow guard.

An eerie silence fell on the Hyuuga princess after they shut the door. She moved to her bed, lying down and staring up at the ceiling while she wondered what her father could possibly want with her. The failure. The useless princess. The hated heir.

After a few minutes of depressing musings, she moved to her bedside phone. She dialed the only number she knew. After a few rings, the first person who ever thought she was worth something, and the only one of three at the moment, picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tenten."

"Hinata? Hey, how you doing! I take it Naruto-kun's alright now."

"Yeah, he is but... how'd you know?"

"Because you'd never leave his bedside until he was better, and there's still a few hours left for visitors at the hospital."

"W-well... Y-yeah, Naruto-kun woke up. We found Sakura, too. Right after he woke up, Naruto-kun brought us to her."

"Oh wow! Was she ok? What happened to her?"

Hinata, over the next 10 minutes, explained the entire day's events.

"And right now, Otou-sama said I have to stay in my room until he comes and gets me."

"Really…? Did you do anything for him to get mad at?"

"Nothing that I know of: I got home and the guards escorted me to my room and told me to stay here."

"Hmm... Do you think you'll be out in time to get to our meeting tonight?"

"No, no I don't think so. I still haven't even seen father. Talking with him will definitely take time. Even if he came in right now to talk, I wouldn't be able to make it."

"Oh... well, I've gotta get going. It's almost time to get there, but I'll be by the phone all night if you need to talk, okay?"

"Yeah… Thanks, Tenten... for everything you've done for me."

"Hinata... don't talk like that, it makes it sound like something bad is going to happen."

"... Tenten... I'll talk to you later on tonight."

"Okay... H-Hinata?"

"Yes?"

"U-um... N-never mind! Talk to you later!"

CLICK.

Tenten stared at the phone she slammed down on the receiver. Her face was flushed, and her breath was a little heavier. After a minute of staring at the phone, she got up, got dressed (into her normal attire instead of the around the house clothes she was wearing), left her house and headed to the restaurant her and the other kunoichi would meet at.

"Hmm..." Hinata hummed thoughtfully as she stared at the phone in her hand; after setting it down, her door open.

"Hello, Hinata-nee-sama," the small voice of her younger sister called stoically.

"I told you to stop calling me that, Hanabi-nee-chan." Sighing, the elder Hyuuga leaned back into her bed and closed her eyes.

A moment later, the door shut, and a few moments after that, her bed shifted and she felt warmth at her side.

"Were you waiting outside my door?" Hinata asked quietly as she wrapped her arm around the small, fragile frame of her sister.

"Yes. I didn't want to be in here listening to your conversation on the phone."

"Oh. Well, how long were you out there?"

"Since you started talking about Naruto, up until you hung up," she answered calmly as she stared up at the ceiling.

"Y-you just said you didn't want to eavesdrop…"

"No, I said I didn't want to be in there; If I was, you would have surely left certain details out, and might've omitted the entire story altogether."

"..." Hinata stared at her sister with a mix of frustration, bewilderment, along with embarrassment and curiosity (both at the thought of how many times her sister might've had listened in to her conversations with Tenten).

"Who is this Naruto? I've only heard his name spoken with anger by Otou-sama, with affection by you, or in concerned whispers by the Branch members. Can I meet him?" Hanabi's question might've sounded eager or hopeful if it came from anyone else, but she was able to make it sound as if she was asking someone if they wanted fries with that.

"W-well... I guess, the next time you get a day off from training I could bring you to meet him."

"That soon?"

"Sure, I don't see why not."

A comfortable silence fell on the siblings as they rested on the large bed, both thinking their own thoughts about the same topic.

Three knocks echoed through the timid Hyuuga's room. "Hinata-sama, Hiashi-sama wishes to see you in the main room."

"Hinata-nee-sama, remember why I respect you," Hanabi stated as she got up, headed to and opened the door. "If there will ever be a time where you show your true worth... let it be now." With that, Hanabi was out the door and on her way.

"Hinata-sama," the man who had knocked moments ago appeared in the doorway, "your father."

"Y-yes... I'm coming..."

FLASH BACK

"I don't think it's a good idea to let them spar anymore." The opinion was spoken by an elderly Hyuuga sitting besides Hiashi.

Hiashi's harsh eyes trained on the crying form of a 10 year old Hinata beneath the confused form of her 6 year old sister.

"Hinata. Get up, and get out of my sight."

Hinata stopped crying for a moment, struggled to get herself up, then left as she started crying again.

Hiashi sighed, placing his head in his hands and slouching forward. "Hanabi," The Hyuuga head spoke softly, causing his daughters eyes to snap away from where her sister went to him. "No more training today... You can go get some rest."

"Thank you, Otou-sama."

Hanabi promtly left the room, heading off to her room.

After the young Hyuuga made it to her room, she eased herself onto her bed and begun to reflect on today's sparring match. 'Why did that happen? Hinata-nee-san should be stronger than me, yet she started crying before I even hit her. Is it truly like Otou-sama says; is she just weak?'

Hanabi thought about it for a while, then decided it would be best to talk to her sister directly about it, and ask her why she was unable to win.

After walking to Hinata's room, she discovered her sister was elsewhere. When she asked Branch members around the manor if they've seen her: they reported seeing her heading to the Hyuuga training ground in the Hyuuga forest.

'That makes sense,' Hanabi thought to herself as she headed to the training area. 'She's upset about losing, so she's training herself.'

The Hyuuga forest was, as its name implied, a forest owned by the Hyuuga family. It was behind the manor, and took up a decent amount of space.

After a few minutes of walking through the forest, she found her sister.

She was standing in front of a tenketsu training doll and a screen with red numbers that said "000". It was a special training doll that was used to train higher level Hyuuga's; it was good training because it had small chakra points that would glow red after being hit, accurately emulating hitting all 128 points on a human body. It was training that only the more advanced Hyuuga's could use properly. The doll was set up with tenketsu points that weren't easy to see, and even harder to see during the fast movements of hitting the correct points. It was also a little like whack a mole, as the points would show up (first 2, then 4 more, then 8 more, then 16 more, then 32 more, then 64 more, then all of them over again at the same time), then fade a set amount of time later if you didn't hit them quick enough. This doll's main purpose was teaching how to use one of the Hyuuga's strongest techniques.

Hanabi watched as her sister took her starting place, approximately 10 feet away from the doll. 'I've tried this before. I wasn't able to hit more than 12 of them, there's no way nee-san will…' Hanabi thought, but stopped dead as she saw her sister dash towards the doll. Red lights light up all across the doll. 'She passed the first set… the second set… the third set… fourth set… holy crap, fifth set!'

She watched as her sister sped across the points on the doll, stopping only after the doll made a beeping sound. The red points on the doll fade, and the screen besides the doll shows a number. "073".

Hinata took a few deep breaths before walking back to the starting point again. Before getting into her stance, however, she noticed someone was there with her.

"Wh-who's there!" she shouted, sounding more panicked then angry or upset.

Hanabi steeped into the clearing, a look of pure awe still etched onto her features.

"Ha-Hanabi-nee-chan! Wh-w-what are you d-doing here?" she demanded meekly.

"Hinata-nee-san… that was amazing… does father know you can do that?"

"No! Nonono, no, you can't tell him Hanabi! Please, you can't tell him!" Hinata begged, panic somehow overriding her stutter.

"Why? Would he not be proud to see what you can do?"

"Yes! That's why you can't tell him! If he knows, he'll expect me to actually do this to a p-person! I can handle being a disappointment, being useless, weak, and a failure, but he can't know I chose to be those things… I don't think I can handle it if he knew…"

Hanabi's eyes widened by only the slightest margins, an answer to her questions suddenly making itself known. " You… don't want to hurt people?"

Casting her gaze to the floor, seeming almost ashamed, Hinata nodded.

They stayed there for several long moments; Hanabi processing the information while Hinata awaited judgment. "… Father doesn't know that, either?"

"N-no… he thinks I am just unable to perform well." With every word, she sounded as if a piece of her was taken with it. Her face fell while her eyes stayed trained on a rock in the dirt, her mind comparing herself to it. They both belonged on the ground, covered in dirt, meant only ever to be walked on, or if lucky, thrown.

"You're stronger than I thought you were."

Hinata looks up at that comment, looking curiously into her sister's expressionless eyes. "… You mean the w-with the doll?"

"No," she said quietly with a shake of her head. "You," she added, pointing a petite finger at her sister. "I meant you."

"M-me?"

"Yes. Father, as well as several clan elders, portrayed you as a spineless coward, obediently following anything anyone says. Until it comes to fighting, then they'd say that you were such a coward that you couldn't even attack for fear of a counter-attack. But now I see."

Hanabi walked by her sister, moving towards the doll to inspect the slight damage, such as indents in the wood and blood on a some of the tenketsu points, that overuse seemed to have caused it. "You are strong; strong enough to disobey father repeatedly for your own personal feelings, even though doing so earns you disapproval and rejection. I don't know anyone else who would even think of disobeying father for anything other than a direct order from the Hokage. I don't think I could refuse an order father gave me, but I've seen you do it three times today, even though you could have easily accomplished the task of defeating me, and most of your other sparing partners, with your level of ability…"

She turned back to her sister. She was staring with wide-eyed disbelief, her jaw hanging low. The sight made Hanabi want to laugh, but the only visible change in her features was her eyes softened slightly. "You have earned my respect. Let's get back to the manor, Hinata-nee-sama."

END FLASH BACK

"O-otou-sama… I-I'm here…"

Hyuuga Hiashi, from his place sitting on an ornate pillow at the end of the room, looked to her. "Hinata, come here," he ordered, pointing to one of the smaller, less decorative pillow resting in front of him about 20 feet away.

"U-um…" Hinata mumbled, wanting to say something, but ended up just sitting on the pillow like she was told.

She waited for further instructions from her father, who just stared at her with seemingly no purpose. Eventually, he sighed. "I have received information regarding you and one of your teammates," he stated, his eyes still trained on the young Hyuuga. "The Uzumaki," he clarified, saying the name with so much venom that he appeared to be disgusted at even knowing the person he was talking about.

Hinata's heart stopped. Her face drained of its color, and her fingers trembled. 'No… no, please, no!' she thought, goose bumps moving like a wave from her neck to her toes. 'Don't… don't take me off this team!'

"It disturbs me that you wouldn't know better than to acquaint yourself with that boy. That you would willingly spend time with that man's son… there are no words for my disappointment in your actions. I'm taking you off of that team."

Later, near midnight

It was dark. There were no candles, lamps, or lights of any other kind, save for the golden glow of the moon. Thanks to that light, the cave is not without illumination. It's still very dark, but the moon lights up a good portion of it.

It was fairly quiet. Only slight sounds could be heard: soft sobs, coming from a man chained to the cave wall, wearing nothing but a blood stained blind fold made from a leaf ninja headband and a makeshift loin-cloth made from what looked like a torn prison outfit. Across from the bruised and bloodied man, lying sprawled out on a bed, was a woman. She was young, somewhere in her mid-to-late twenties, with long red hair.

"I'm sorry," the woman spoke soothingly, with a slight shake to her voice. "I'm normally not this… energetic." The man's sobs deepened, and he trembled, causing a faint rattle to his chains. "I was stuck in that awful prison for weeks without anyone to play with," she continued, sitting up and smoothing out the one-size-too-big Konoha Jounin outfit she was currently wearing. "And when I finally got out, I found all of my friends had died from starvation! Can you believe that?"

She stopped talking for a moment. After a few seconds of listening to the man cry, her face contorted in irritation. She then stood up and walked towards the captive Jounin. "Now, listen…" she whispered as she reached him, her eyes wandering hungrily over his bare chest as her fingers danced along the open gashes littered across his body. "I know I've been a bit… rough… and you might not like me too much right now, but I'm not used to my friends just ignoring me. I don't like it when people just stop talking to me." Almost the instant she finished talking, the man cried out in pain.

After slowly sliding her pointer finger out of the man's stomach, which now had a finger-deep hole in it, she began speaking again. "I'll forgive you, though… it's not your fault: I've never had to play with only one person since I was little. It's a bit hard for me to deal with only one person," she admitted shyly, her hands brushing playfully against his loin-cloth.

"I've already told you, haven't I? If you play nice, then I'll play nice…" she admonished in a motherly tone before lolling her head back to face the entrance of the cave. "Or, maybe you would like to take his place?"

Stepping just into the mouth of the cave was a man in a Konoha Jounin uniform, holding a scroll in one hand and an envelope in the other. "No, I'm not here to fight you," the man assured calmly as the woman grabbed a katana that was leaning up against the wall of the cave.

"You know that I won't let you leave, right?" the woman asked, slowly unsheathing her sword. "If you don't move, you can live as my next friend… until you expire."

"An enticing offer, but I must refuse." The man took another step into the cave, and held out the scroll. "Here. It's a new mission. If you accept and complete this mission, we can ensure the end of your manhunt. You'll be free to continue to your…" the man explained, pausing to glance at the man chained to the wall, "hobbies… "

Suddenly the man started screaming. "HELP! HELP ME, PLEASE! OH GOD, PLEASE!" he screamed, pulling against his chains in a futile attempt to rip out of them.

"Oh, god," the woman groaned, covering her ears. "Now he'll never shut up. Hey," she called, looking to the man with the scroll still outstretched to her. "Tell him you're not here to help him! He won't shut up otherwise!"

The man looked towards the bloodied, thrashing mess chained to the wall. "I…" he started, pausing briefly at the insane amount of cruelty four simple words would hold. "I won't help you."

The man had apparently heard him over his own screaming, as he went dead silent. "There, he's quiet," the woman sighed, straightening up and facing her visitor. "So, what's this about a mission?"

The man threw the scroll to her, and watched quietly as she read through it. About 5 seconds later, she looked up. "So, all I have to do is use the same jutsu against this guy?" she asked, her voice seeming to cause her prisoner to start sobbing violently. "Oh, what now? He started crying; they can go on like this for hours…"

"I could put a sleeping genjutsu on him if you'd like," her visitor suggested, not used to and disturbed by watching a ninja cry.

"No no," she dismissed, waving her hand to him. "They have to learn that I'm in complete control of their life," she explained, making her way towards the sobbing man. "I've told you: crying while I'm not doing anything is fine, it's actually pretty soothing, but when I'm talking…" she whispered just above his sobs before they stopped short.

The man's face drained of any color it had left as five delicate fingers slid into his stomach. And, after what seemed like hours to the man, she twisted her fingers. Doing so seemed to make the man faint.

"Sorry about that," she explained apologetically, as if a mother had their child tantrum in front of company. After a quick flick of her hand to remove excess blood, she faced the man again, licking her fingers clean. "So, if I take out this guy-"

"Not take out," the man corrected quickly.

"Yeah, take out, use my jutsu, same thing. Anyway, I take care of this mission and I'm free again?"

"Yes. Once the report comes in that your jutsu worked, you will be free." The man handed her the envelope he held in his other hand. "This is information about your target. I suggest heading out tonight."

The woman smiled as she took files out of the envelope, and looked up to the man. "You know, this won't change the fact that you aren't leaving here; you know that, right?"

"Oh man," a middle aged man sighed as he walked down the street. The man had long, dirty blonde hair reaching down towards the bottom of his spine in a pony tail. "That boy's head is more messed up than tangled barbed wire…" he complained to no one in particular.

As he walked towards his house he looked up to the golden giant of a moon, seeming to be on the verge of falling out of the sky, smiling faintly to himself. "Such a beautiful night… I wish I could at least relax and enjoy it…" he trailed off, spinning towards a shadowed tree and flicking a kunai into its branches.

A young, beautiful woman jumped out. She sailed gracefully through the air, landing soundlessly on you of the few light posts lining the streets, the moon creating a mesmerizing backdrop for the startlingly attractive woman. She had long red hair on her head, an almost glowing red quality to her eyes, and a perverted grin on her face. "You really do look cute… but you're a screamer, I can tell," the woman observed almost disappointedly.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the man asked, ignoring her strange comments. Her grin widened a bit, showing almost all of her teeth.

"Such a beautiful moon tonight, isn't it?" she asked, her bright, blood red lips moving elegantly with each word, looking behind her at the large, golden, alluring moon. She turned back to face the man, and her canines seemed to have grown in size. They seemed to have almost doubled in length, glinting dangerously, almost seductively.

"Wh-what…" the man stuttered, his eyes fluttering, almost as if he was trying to stay awake. "What are y-you… doing…"

"The moon," she started, gliding down from her metallic perch to land in front of the spellbound shinobi, "it really does bring out the absolute worst in me…"

"Does it…?" he asked curiously, looking down to the woman as she approached him.

"Yes, it does," she replied, her voice laced with lust, as she reached him. She draped her arms around his neck. "Too bad," she whispered in a yearning tone as she brought her bright red lips up to his ears, "I had a feeling you would've really liked that side of me."

"Oh…?" he asked with clear disappointment as he looked up to the moon.

"Yes," she answered, bringing her lips down to his neck, kissing it lightly. "I'm sorry, Yamanaka Inoichi," she continued, licking the area on his neck that now seemed to be reacting violently to her touch: the spot she had kissed had grown almost clear with a slight tint of red, and a large vain was protruding from the twitching skin. "I normally like to play with my partners a little more, but… this is strictly business…" With that, her teeth sank into his neck.

He made a strangled gasping type of sound at first, but he seemed to accept it as his eyes rolled up into his head. After several long moments, she pulled back, her teeth shining bright red with blood, and stared at him. Neither of them said anything for about 10 seconds. "Well?" the woman finally spoke, looking back up towards the moon "You have your orders."

The man nodded absently, then stumbled away, looking back to her a few times as he got further away from her. "Hmm… I guess I'd better get back home…" she hummed as Inoichi moved out of sight. "I'll be seeing you soon…" she whispered with a grin and a shudder, then turned to head back to her hideout, "… Naruto-kun…"

Author's Note

… I'm actually not sure how I should react after you read this. Well… I'm gonna go with excited. HOOOOYAAAH! If it's the wrong reaction, I apologize. So, the red-haired girl (who is not kushina, even though they have similar hair) seemed to have vampiric abilities. Well, that's kinda true. She is an oc, obviously, who has the ability to hypnotize people, and have them follow whatever orders she gives them through injecting chakra from her teeth into their blood. Their abilities get amazingly strong during the full moon, and they do have weaknesses (which I will explain later). She's kinda like what would happen if a vampire had a baby with a werewolf in the naruto universe.


End file.
